I'll Love You 99 Times
by Petite Sirene
Summary: Shinku has just entered high school at Rikkai. More than anything she just wants to be alone, but when her grandfather decides that she needs to get married to take over the family business, she has to choose 1 out of 7 guys and live with him. SanadaXOC
1. Seven People, One Choice

Hello everyone! Here's a new story from me. Sorry about that. (-_-ll) I just wanted to do this story soooo bad since it seemed like a really good idea to me. Also, Sanada is my favorite character! So I wanted to do a story with him in it (with my own storyline).

So here's the full summary: Miyaharu, Shinku has just entered high school at Rikkai Daigaku Fuzoku as a 1st year. More than anything she just wants to be alone. She also just wants to play her cello, but when her grandfather decides that she needs to get married to take over the family business. She has to choose one out of seven choices, and live with that person to prepare for her life with him. SanadaXOC

* * *

**Chapter One**

**Seven People, One Choice**

It was during the middle of the school day and everyone was in class. Everyone except a lone girl who was sitting in the library reading a book on how to win at a chess game. Lunch was over, and even though the bell rung, the girl was still reading as if there was no bell.

"Miyaharu-san!" the librarian had come over and started to scold the girl sitting at the table in the back of the library. "You know that class has already started, and yet every day you still sit here until I come to yell at you to go to class."

The girl whose last name was Miyaharu closed her book and stared up at the librarian with narrowed chocolate brown eyes. It was the look of a disrespectful student, but it wasn't completely the girl's fault, her gaze was just always like that naturally. She only ever had two expressions, her mean, glaring, and disrespectful look and her sweet, innocent, doll like look. Even when she thought she had a normal face on, she had on either her disrespectful face or her innocent face.

Her name was Miyaharu Shinku.

Shinku stood up quickly from her seat and stared at the librarian. "Why would I go to my class when the bell rings when I can just wait and read for a few more minutes and have you send me back?"

The librarian stepped back a few steps at the angry glare that was in Shinku's eyes, though she wasn't even angry, she just almost always had that look in her eyes. "Such a disrespectful look!" the librarian bellowed. "Go to class now! Before I send you to the principal's office!"

Shinku quickly grabbed her bag and got up from the table. She walked away from the library with a confused look on her face. She didn't know what she did wrong. She thought she was sincere. She just didn't realize that the librarian was offended by the glare that wasn't really in her eyes.

Her almond shaped eyes made her look like she was always glaring, even when she wasn't, but when she widened them, she looked too innocent, so she settled for the glare.

No one was outside or in the hallways. Rikkai Daigaku Fuzoku had a tough high school and it was difficult. Rikkai had a wonderful education program, and it was home to the tennis team that had won the nationals quite a bit. They had lost first place several times, but they had won second place in those times.

Shinku didn't want to go to her class, so she took as long as she could to walk there. The day was beautiful and she would rather much spend her time sitting outside alone under a tree than go into a classroom full of people.

She sighed thinking of her classmates. She never really liked people, and in class she would usually sit by her customary seat in the back by the window. There were things she would rather much do than speak and interact with people. She would rather be in the library reading a book, or at home practicing her cello.

She opened the sliding door to her classroom. She had been in high school for four months now. No one looked up as she walked in and took her seat. The teacher didn't even stop with his lecture to look at her. All of her classmates were used to her walking into class late after lunch. She wasn't even reprimanded for being late anymore. After one month, the teacher had gotten tired of lecturing her for being late and just stopped.

Shinku took out her textbook and opened it to the page everyone else was on. She tried her best to pay attention to the book since the teacher had such a droning voice.

Shinku didn't need to study that hard, because no matter what, she always got A's in all of her classes. She liked to be late, and she didn't like class, but that didn't stop her from being smart. She would study at home, finish all of her work, and get hundreds on tests all of the time. Her parents did expect her to get all A's, and she didn't let them down.

Shinku dragged through every class until the bell had rung, announcing that for some people, it was time to go home, and for others it was time for clubs. Clubs were the only thing about school that made it exciting for her. She dragged her cello with her to the nonexistent classical music club. She was one (out of five) people who actually went there. She joined because 1) she loved classical music because she played the cello and 2) there weren't a lot of people there, so she could be (mostly) alone.

The main point of the club was just to practice. The people in the club would all separate as soon as they all met in the club room. Practicing together was difficult for them because no one could hear themselves practice. While the others left, Shinku decided to stay in the room to practice even though it was a bit cold. It was November, and the temperature was just starting to drop.

Shinku looked out the window before closing and she got a perfect view of the tennis club members. They were all practicing in the cold, but they were all sweating. She closed the window and though, _'I feel so bad for them working so hard while they're with other people! I would hate to train while others were there. People are so annoying.'_ She closed the window and then went to her cello to practice.

Shinku was leaving her clubroom just as the tennis players were leaving their clubs. She ducked behind a tall tennis player to maker sure that no one would see her since she was so short anyways. Only 4'8". It was hard not to be noticed though when she was lugging a cello around with her.

A boy with curly black hair came up to her and said, "Why are you carrying that big thing around with you?"

"I'm in the classical music club," she replied. She didn't even know the boy.

"Oh, do you need help? How old are you? You're so short, are you even a high schooler?"

Shinku sighed at the thought of replying to the boy. She didn't like to talking to people, and she hated talking to strangers even more. Her polite side came out though and she said, "I don't need help, I've been lugging around a cello since I was three. I'm sixteen years old, a first year here at Rikkai, and yes I am a high schooler." She thought the boy must have been a second year. Maybe even a senior: a third year.

"Oh, what's your name then?"

"Miyaharu Shinku."

"Really?" the boy had a shocked expression on his face as he took her in. He stared at her glaring chocolate brown eyes and her long curly/wavyish brown hair that reached her waist.

Shinku had a confused look on her face. She had only been at the school for four months, so she didn't know why the boy was acting as if she was someone important. "Yes I really am."

"That's awesome! I guess I'll see you tonight then!" The boy ran off without even introducing himself.

"What a rude boy," Shinku murmured as she lugged her cello all the way home.

The walk wasn't actually that far. Her house wasn't close, but it wasn't far either. She arrived at an old Japanese style house that was quite large and opened the door with her key.

"I'm home," she softly said as she closed the door behind her.

Her mother came down the stairs and gave her a big hug. "Hello darling. You might want to change and put away your cello, your grandfather has something important to talk to you about."

"Me? Grandfather? Why?"

"You'll see."

Shinku quickly went to her room to change. Whenever her grandfather requested to talk to her like that, it was always about something important. It was always about something big too.

She went back down the first floor and knocked on the door to her grandfather's study.

"Come in," a raspy voice called out.

"You wanted to see me Grandfather Hikaru?" Shinku asked.

He gave her a crinkly eyed smile. "There's my lovely granddaughter! I know I can die in peace now that I know that you're prepared to take over the family business."

"Don't talk like that."

"Always so commanding!" he laughed. He straightened his face. "I called you in here for a reason."

"I know that."

"You already know that you're my only grandchild."

"I know that too."

"What do you think about that?"

"Being a granddaughter makes me think that you're old." There was no joking expression on Shinku's face as she said that.

Her grandfather broke out into another smile and started laughing, causing Shinku to get confused. "Always so blunt aren't you?" he asked. "That's a good quality. I don't like liars, and I like how you always tell the truth, Shinku. No matter how hurtful it is, you can get the job done."

"What is it exactly that you want grandfather?" Shinku asked.

"Blunt and honest I see." His comment earned a glare from Shinku. "Okay, I'm getting on to the point now. As you know, I'm the head of a major line of pharmaceutical stores."

"Of course I know that."

"And since you're my only grandchild, that makes you the next heir to the business."

"What about Mom and Dad?" Shinku asked with her eyebrows raised.

"You know that your parents aren't interested in pharmaceuticals. They're too busy with their pastry shop. You on the other hand, you have amazing grades and you have just the right attitude, so I would like to announce you as my next heir."

"I don't like that. I would rather become a hermit," Shinku admitted.

Her grandfather burst out laughing and had to wipe away a tear. "Why do you want to become a hermit?"

"I'll have to deal with a lot of important people if I take over. I don't like people."

He sighed. "That I know very well, Shinku. You do want to take over the business though right?"

"Yes of course. I love pharmaceuticals. The only problem is the one I just told you about."

"Don't worry, you won't have to deal with that many people."

Shinku sighed a sigh of relief before asking, "Is that all grandfather? I'm actually very happy and honored that you chose me as the heir."

"That's very good, there's just one small thing though."

"What is it?" Shinku raised one of her eyebrows at her grandfather.

"Well, when you were born, I promised seven other grandparents that when you were announced as the heir to the Matsu Pharmaceuticals Store, then you would choose your fiance."

Shinku's mouth fell open a bit, but her expression didn't alter that much. On the inside though, she felt as if she might explode and die. "I don't want to get a fiance. I don't want to get married. Ever. I'm going to die alone. Happily."

"Well, here's the thing." He stopped to sigh. "You can't take over if you don't get a fiance. This is too much of a burden to carry on one person's shoulders. You need someone else to too."

"No."

"Well then you can't take over."

Shinku bit her lip and looked at the ground. Ever since she was a kid, she thought that she would take over for her grandfather, she had even studied hard so that she would know about the medicines that the stores sold. She worked her whole life so far training herself so she could take over. "Is that all?" Shinku finally asked.

"Good girl," her grandfather said. "That's all. I already set up dinner tonight with the men that are able to become married to you."

Men? _Men?_ As in the _plural_? "Wait," Shinku said. "Men? What do you mean?"

Her grandfather looked embarrassed as he was forced to admit the truth to his grandchild. "When you were born, I promised seven of my friends that when you were announced heir of the stores, then you would marry their grandson. I didn't realize how many people I promised that to until just now. Don't worry though, all of the families are very respectable and their grandsons are good people I heard. You might know them, they all go to your school."

"I don't want to marry seven guys."

"You're not going to! Don't worry." He held up both his hands as if to calm her down. "I told all of them about the dilemma and they're bringing their grandsons over so that you can choose who you want to marry."

"I don't want to marry." No expression on her face still. Just the glare.

"Shinku, don't make this hard for me. I'll have to give up the stores, and you'll never become heir. Is that what you want?"

"No grandfather. That's not what I want at all, and can't you just cancel the proposal?"

"You know I don't break my promises. I'm already cheating by having you choose. Do you want me to be dishonorable? Do you want to disgrace this family?"

"No of course not!" Shinku had a panicked expression on her face. She couldn't believe this was happening. If she didn't get married, then she wouldn't be heir, and she would also disgrace the family and become dishonorable. And not only all of that, but she would drag her grandfather down with her too.

"Then are you going to go through with this?"

"Yes grandfather," Shinku muttered sadly. She had never in her life wanted to get married, and now she would have to with a stranger.

"That's my good granddaughter. I knew you would understand. I have always felt as if you could bring Matsu up and become even greater!"

Great. Now he was putting guilt on her and making her feel pressured.

"Now go change again!" he shooed. "I want you to look nice for the meeting!"

Shinku didn't say a single word the entire time she was waiting for the people to arrive at her house. She was dressed in a cream colored dress that was puffed and tucked at the bottom with sleeveless straps. She felt ridiculous dressing up for strangers.

"Please greet them kindly," her mother begged her. "This is all for you and your grandfather. Please do this for him."

Shinku nodded tartly and turned her head away from her mother. Apparently, her parents had known of the proposals ever since she was born and they never told her about it. They never tried to stop it either. They just went along with the plan.

"The first one is arriving! And please try to talk a bit more, okay Shinku?" her mother begged again.

"Okay," she replied.

Soon after her mother's announcement. The doorbell rang and in came the boy that she had talked to after school.

"You!" she exclaimed.

"I told you that we would meet tonight!" He gave her a smile and a shoulder hug. "My name is Kirihara Akaya."

"Hello." She shook his hand and they both went into the spacious dining room together. There were little name plates for every seat, and Shinku took the seat dutifully besides her grandfather who was sitting at the head of the table.

The others started to be arriving shortly after. There was one with blue hair, one with purple hair and glasses, one with silver hair in a ponytail, one with black hair and a serious expression, one with red hair that was chewing on a piece of bubblegum, and one who had his eyes closed with brown hair.

"EH!" Kirihara shouted out. "You six are the other choices? All of you? I can't believe this! This is such a coincidence!" Kirihara's grandmother told him to be quiet and he quickly obeyed. The other grandparents all took a seat next to their grandchildren.

Shinku's grandfather cleared his throat so everyone would be quiet and started to say, "As you all know, I'm the head of the Matsu Pharmaceutical Stores all around Japan. I'm not getting any younger, and as I promised all of you, my granddaughter would choose a husband as soon as she was told that she was to be the heir of Matsu Pharmaceuticals. Matsu is worth over 700 million dollars, and it will all be signed over to my granddaughter, Miyaharu Shinku. When she gets married, the money will then also be signed on to her husband's name."

Shinku almost spit out the water that she was drinking. She knew that the company was worth a lot, but she never knew that it was that much! And according to the looks on every else's face as the table, they didn't know how much it was worth either.

Shinku's grandfather turned to her and said, "I'm going to introduce you to all of the candidates now, okay Shinku? I'm going to go around the table."

Shinku nodded tersely and tried to keep a calm expression on her face. She felt really uncomfortable sitting at the table with all those strangers. She tried her best to keep a scowl off her face and a glare out of her eyes.

Her grandfather started introducing. "I'm going to go clockwise. That is Yukimura Seiichi, Sanada Genichirou, Yanagi Renji, Yagyuu Hiroshi, Kirihara Akaya, Niou Masaharu, and Marui Bunta."

"Nice to meet you," all of the guys said.

"Do you know anyone?" Grandfather Hikaru asked.

Shinku shook her head. She had never heard of any one of those guys before. Kirihara and the guy named Marui stared at her open-mouthed.

Shinku's grandfather thought for a moment and he realized he was forgetting something important. "And everyone," Grandfather Hikaru added, "this is my lovely granddaughter Miyaharu Shinku." He had her hand on her elbow as if to gesture her to do something.

Shinku stood up and bowed. "Hello, it is a great pleasure to meet everyone." Shinku was dying on the inside because she couldn't stand to lie, and she couldn't stand to be near people.

_'I lied!' _she thought. _'I can't believe I lied! I haven't lied in a long time.'_

The whole dinner was like hell for Shinku. She tried to keep a smile on her face as she talked to all of the guys at the table. They would volley questions at her and she would answer them. Most of her answers were only one word. Then there was the Kirihara guy who kept saying, "I can't believe all the regulars on the tennis team are the choices! I can't believe this! It must a coincidence! Even Yukimura-buchou and Sanada-fukubuchou are here!" There was only one person who didn't talk that much compared to everyone else. He sat and he had only asked her one question during the whole thing, and it was, "How serious are you about everything?"

She had replied with, "Very serious." And that had been the end of their conversation. It was the guy with black hair and a serious expression on his face that had said it.

At the end of the dinner, Grandfather Hikaru announced again, "I've been thinking. My granddaughter is old enough to be trusted with a guy. She needs to get a taste of the real world, because if she decides to take over Matsu, then she'll find out that there are a lot of vultures in the world waiting for her to fall so that they could get her remains. I've been thinking, and I think that the sooner we can train Shinku and her future husband, then the better. So I've decided that it would be best if they also started to live together to get used to the fact that they're getting married, and when Shinku turns eighteen and is out of high school, then she will be wedded. Also, whoever Shinku chooses, please treat her with respect and kindness. That is all I ask of you. Also, please protect her to the best of your abilities."

"Wonderful idea," all of the other grandparents said, clapping at the speech.

Shinku was shocked at the announcement, but she also thought it was a bit sweet that her grandfather was thinking of protecting her and everything.

"Shinku," her grandfather said, "are you ready to choose now?"

Shinku tapped her bottom lip with her index finger and her eyebrows knitted together as she thought. She didn't like any of them, and she didn't want to get married to anyone. She especially didn't want to get married to a stranger, and they were all strangers. There was only one person that she felt was the least annoying out of all of them (since she thought their very presence was annoying), and it was the man with the black hair and serious expression. He spoke the least, so he would be the easiest to live with. She wouldn't have to talk to him or even look at him, and she felt as if he wouldn't bother her at all.

Shinku sighed as she looked up to her grandfather with big doe eyes.

"Go ahead, don't worry," he comforted.

Shinku raised her hand and pointed straight at the guy she thought was the best choice (since she didn't like anyone). She said, "Him. I choose the man with the black hair and the pissed off and serious expression on his face."

The people all around her all gave her shocked expressions as if she was joking about who she chose. She was confused. What was wrong with the guy that she chose? Some of the others guys laughed, and a few others shook their heads.

"Holy shit!" Kirihara whispered.

"Well then," her grandfather sighed and commented, "I suppose your fiance is now Sanada Genichirou." Even her grandfather seemed shocked.

* * *

_**So everyone. I would love it if you could review.^^ I worked really hard on this one, and I really do love it, I just hope you love it too. So please review and tell me what you think about it so far! I would be very happy if you all reviewed.^^**_

_**Also, if you want to see what the character looks like, her picture is on my profile, but she won't be on my website yet since I have to get to bed and go to my first day of school tomorrow. So please check it out too!^^ Thank you everyone.**_

_**Thank you to everyone who has reviewed on my other stories and to everyone who will review on this one. :)**_


	2. Surprise, Surprise

**Chapter Two **

**Surprise, Surprise**

It was the perfect day. The sky was blue, the grass was green, and there was a slight breeze. Shinku was walking up a hill with her big cello. She had to half drag, half carry it up. With her 4'8" frame, she had a difficult time carrying it.

"Eh? Miyaharu-san! Miyaharu-san!" a voice called out to her.

Shinku sighed and then tried her best to ignore the annoying voice (it as annoying because it belonged to a_ person_). She hurried up the hill as fast as she could so she could avoid whoever was calling her. The hard case that her cello was in dragged against the sidewalk as Shinku tried to run up the hill while carrying it. She cursed at herself mentally for letting her cello case drag like that. She stopped and knelt down, looking at the damage. There were only a few scratches on it. She sighed a sigh of relief and stood up again. She almost jumped out of her skin as she saw Kirihara Akaya right in front of her.

"Miyaharu-san, didn't you hear me call you?" he asked with a sad(ish) expression on his face.

"Oh, I heard you," Shinku replied with a blank expression.

"Then why didn't you answer?"

"I didn't want to."

"That's not nice to say!" Kirihara shouted. "Don't forget that I was one of your _choices_." He winked at her and smiled.

Shinku turned away and tried to rush up the hill faster.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Kirihara shouted as he caught up to her.

"School," she replied. The obvious answer.

"Why are you like that? Obviously you must have some emotion since you chose Sanada-fukubuchou as your fia—!"

Shinku had stood on her tiptoes to cover Kirihara's mouth with her hand. She glared at Kirihara through her bangs, and this time it was a real glare. "Shh! Don't you _ever_ mention that at school! Don't mention that anywhere else either. Just . . . never mention it! Do you want me to die? If any of his fan girls find out about it then I'll be dead."

"How do you know about the fan girls?"

Shinku gave him another glare. "I'm not stupid. I know that girls are all over the tennis regulars."

"But you don't even know who the regulars are!" Kirihara shouted.

"Does it matter if I know them or not?"

"Well, it's just that yesterday I was so surprised to learn that you didn't know who any of the tennis regulars were."

"I don't get involved in things that has nothing to do with me."

Kirihara gave Shinku a look. Shinku just wished that Kirihara would go away because he was annoying her. She didn't even know him that well and he was_ still_ talking to her. She turned her head away from him and tried to pretend he wasn't there, but he kept _talking_ and _talking_ and TALKING!

"Will you just be quiet?" Shinku yelled at him.

Kirihara looked at her for a few seconds as if he didn't hear her. "What?"

"Be quiet!"

"Um . . . okay . . ." Kirihara looked away from Shinku and walked with her to the school.

Shinku didn't think of the consequences of walking with a regular to school until she arrived. Everyone was just staring at her and Kirihara as if they were a couple. There were a whole bunch of people with shocked expressions on their faces, and then there were some of the girls that were glaring at the two. Shinku just _knew_ this would happen. She sighed, covered her face with her bangs and quickly started to walk away from Kirihara. She knew she should have just walked faster and ignored him for the whole way there. She shouldn't even have talked to him. She hated talking to people! She didn't know what had gotten into her.

"Wait!" Kirihara called out as he ran to catch up to her.

_'Idiot!' _Shinku thought. He was just causing more trouble for her, and chances were, she would be confronted by a whole bunch of people today. She shook her head at the bad thought and felt sick. People. She would have to hide out in the library all day.

"Are you listening?" Kirihara asked.

"Hm?" Apparently Kirihara was talking and Shinku wasn't listening.

"Miyaharu-san, you're quite rude you know."

"I wouldn't be talking," Shinku muttered under her breath.

"Hey! I heard that! Anyways, I said that you should come watch us practice everyday for morning practice and afternoon practice."

"Why?" Shinku asked the question with vehement disgust.

"Well . . ." Kirihara seemed reluctant to answer. "It's just that Yukimura-buchou said that you should come everyday now. He thought that it would be a good thing. We discussed it all when we were leaving."

"And how did you-know-who take it?" Shinku asked with curiosity now.

"Well, he just sort of stood there in shock, but then he pulled himself together and didn't say anything. Just had this really scary expression on his face, but that's okay. He always has a scary expression on his face. So I don't know what to say . . . he's really hard to read. He's only always serious or angry."

"Well . . . that's good."

"Good?" Kirihara almost jumped back in surprise. He couldn't imagine anyone in the world who would think that that was good.

"It's good because you said that he didn't say anything yesterday. That means he won't talk, and that also means that when I have to live with him, I won't have to talk to him! That makes me so happy! He won't talk to me! And I won't talk to him!"

Kirihara sweat-dropped as he listened to Shinku's speech on being left alone and how great it would be if she could be left alone forever since she didn't like people. She kept going on like that until Kirihara grabbed her cello.

"Hey! Give it back!" Kirihara got a glare.

"Only if you come every day or Yukimura-buchou will kill me if I'm not able to convince you to."

"I have clubs after school," Shinku stated with a tart look.

"Oh yeah, that's why I saw you go home late yesterday . . . but that's not the case! Come in the mornings at least."

"No." Shinku tried to grab her cello, but Kirihara dodged her.

"I'll destroy this."

"No."

"If you don't come I'll die."

"I don't care if you die or not."

"Hey, that actually hurt!" Kirihara had a hurt expression on his face.

Shinku shrugged her dainty shoulders. "I'm just telling the truth. I don't like to lie."

"Well . . ." Kirihara was thinking. "I'll go to your grandfather and tell him that you refuse to get married."

"Will you say that quieter?" Shinku asked. "Don't do that! He'll think I'm going to give up the business."

"Well do as I told you to."

"No."

"I'll tell."

"No."

"I'll go right after school."

"No."

"I'm going to go tell Yukimura-buchou this too and he'll be angry."

"No."

Kirihara stopped to think. "He's sadistic, he'll force you to be in a crowd constantly! He'll force you to be around . . . _people!_"

"No!" Shinku was saying no to the whole being around people thing. "I don't want to be around people. I don't like people."

"Well then, do what I just asked you to do."

"I don't want to though, and I'll still be around people." Shinku puffed her cheeks out and glared at Kirihara with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Yeah," Kirihara admitted, but then an idea came to him, "but . . . if you go to practice in the morning, you would have to only be around eight people, while if you didn't, Yukimura-buchou would force you to be in a crowd with . . . with _hundreds_!"

"What?" Shinku had backed away from Kirihara and was thinking about what would happen if she was forced to be in a crowd with so many people. She would surely get sick, or angry, or both, or something in between. She couldn't stand to be around people that she didn't know or like. She couldn't stand people over all. She had a panicked expression on her face as she bit her lip and was thinking with her eyebrows knitted.

_'This is so working!'_ Kirihara thought. _'Now I won't be killed by Yukimura-buchou for failing.'_

Shinku gave a sigh of defeat and said, "I'll go with you now to practice and watch."

Kirihara had a Chesire cat smile on his face as he walked to the tennis courts still holding Shinku's cello. He wouldn't get killed after all. "That's wonderful then!" Kirihara admitted. "We should put away your cello first."

Shinku nodded her head sadly as she showed Kirihara to the music room that was always kept locked so that the instruments wouldn't be stolen. He put her cello into the corner and then grabbed her hand to pull her along with him to the tennis courts.

"This is going to be awesome!" Kirihara said excitedly. "You'll love watching us play, I mean all of the fan girls that come all of the time love watching us play."

"Fan girls?" Shinku asked surprised. Her voice became shrill as she said it.

Kirihara caught his mistake and said, "Um well . . . the fan girls only come after school because they're too busy in the mornings doing their hair and make up and whatever else they do. So come on!"

Shinku let Kirihara drag her to the tennis courts while she was thinking of the consequences of accepting the whole deal. Would she rather be with the tennis regulars and some fan girls, or would she rather be with a hundred other people? Then again, if she was with the regulars and the (technically) the fan girls at the same time, she would get killed! Oh well. Shinku shook her head and got the image out of her mind. She would just deal with it. The less people. The better.

Moments later, she was at the tennis courts. Kirihara dragged her to the inside where the regulars were. "Look who came!" Kirihara shouted. He swung Shinku and she fell on a bench. He looked at Yukimura to see what he would say.

"Well, hello, Miyaharu-san," Yukimura had said.

"Hello, Yukimura-sempai," Shinku replied. She tried to put on her most polite face, but she ended up glaring at Yukimura on accident.

He laughed at her glare and said, "We are all so glad that you came. I know that we're going to all be good friends, right?"

Shinku didn't reply just muttered something unintelligible and looked away from Yukimura. She looked past the school to the trees where birds nested. She concentrated on those birds. Maybe if she didn't look at any people, she would be able to ignore the fact that she had to sit at a tennis court where other people were practicing. She noticed that Sanada didn't say anything to her, but she pushed that to the back of her mind.

_'Protect me?'_ Shinku thought. _'Yeah right. He's not going to protect me or be kind to me . . . but that's why I chose him!'_ She was a bit upset that he didn't say hi to her, but she thought about why she chose him and she felt a little bit better. If she had to get married, then she would rather get married to a person that didn't talk to her so that she wouldn't have to talk to him back.

"Hey what are you thinking about?" a redhead boy popped up right in front of Shinku, causing her to jump back. He had a big green bubble coming out of his mouth. It popped and he chewed it again.

Shinku put her hand to her heart and tried to breath deeply. The boy almost gave her a heart attack! She glared at him and counted to ten in her head to calm herself down. She had jumped a foot down the bench so that she was closer to the edge now. She glared at the boy again and looked down. She was so surprised by his sudden appearance. She wasn't good with surprises, especially when it dealt with other people.

"Why are you glaring at me like that?" he asked.

"You surprised me," Shinku muttered.

"Eh? Really? Well I'm sorry. Do you remember who I am?"

"No."

"Well, that's not nice. Every girl here knows all of us on the tennis team. Every girl except you. I can't believe you don't know anyone of us! You even admitted it last night!"

"I know Kirihara-sempai," Shinku stated. She really wished she didn't know him though.

"Oh yeah," the redhead scratched his head. "I forgot. You're a first year aren't you? Well what are you going to do when Sanada-fukubuchou graduates?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Shinku narrowed her eyes at the redhead.

"You know with the engag—!"

The redhead, who was Marui Bunta, had stopped talking because a tennis ball was wedged into his mouth. Shinku had found it on the bench next to her, so she used it to make Marui stop talking.

"Don't ever mention that anywhere! Got it?" she asked him.

He nodded his head and spit out the tennis ball. "I . . . I won't talk about it again!" Then he ran off to practice.

Shinku wanted to leave then, so she got up. She walked over to Sanada first to say goodbye to him because it as the polite thing to do. "Sanada-sempai," she said with no expression, "goodbye. I'm going to head to the library now." She turned away and left with the others staring at her. As soon as she got out of the gates for the tennis courts, she sprinted away as fast as she could.

"What's going on?" Jackal asked.

The others explained what had happened last night to him in whispers since Kirihara and Marui had remembered what Shinku had told them not to do. The explaining took a little bit over five minutes because Kirihara kept adding things in about Shinku since he seemed to be the closest to her.

"I see," Jackal replied. "I was wondering why everyone here except me was talking in whispers about this girl."

"How come you weren't one of the choices?" Bunta asked while blowing a bubble.

"It's because I'm from Brazil, remember? I wasn't here and neither were my grandparents when she was born. My grandparents don't even know her grandfather!"

"Oh . . . that explains why you weren't there. I thought it was strange that all of us were and you weren't."

"I suppose her grandfather really wanted the best for her," Yagyuu said. "He had promised it to our grandparents, and now we're all tennis regulars. He really knows how to choose."

Everyone muttered something like an agreement on that. Everyone except Sanada. He just ignored the conversation and tried to get back to practice.  
"_Tarundoru_!" Sanada shouted as loudly as he could at his teammates.

Everyone quickly scattered and started to practice. They knew that they would get slapped if they didn't work hard because Sanada didn't like slacking off.

"You're scary, Sanada-san," Yukimura said, walking up to Sanada with a smile on his face.

"Yukimura-buchou," Sanada acknowledged.

"Why don't you talk to her more?"

Sanada didn't answer, he just continued to yell instructions to the tennis members.

"I knew you would be like this," Yukimura sighed. "Even though she's your fiance, you're just going to ignore her and act as if she doesn't exist. What about when you're married? Oh well, since I knew you would be like this, I asked Kirihara-san to somehow convince her to come to watch our practices. That's why she was here this morning."

A vein popped out on Sanada's neck as he heard about what Yukimura did. He didn't reply though. He tried to keep calm as he watched the regulars practice. He needed to burn off some stress and anger himself, so he went to practice tennis. He tried not to think of the inevitable fate that would happen to him once school got out. . .

* * *

Shinku was putting her cello into its case when a head popped into the room. It was Kirihara . . . Again. Shinku sighed at the thought of him. He kept annoying her. He was always there when she didn't want him to be (which in translation he was practically there all of the time because she never wanted him there).

"The whole team is waiting for you!" Kirihara shouted.

Shinku didn't say a thing to him. She just sighed as she hefted her cello and walked out the door with an animated Kirihara talking to her about who knew what.

The first person Shinku saw when she got outside was Sanada. They were suppose to walk home together that day because Grandfather Hikaru had just gotten them the penthouse last night. During the school day, their stuff would be moved into the penthouse. As soon as Shinku and Sanada were standing next to each other, all of the regulars made excuses about going to appointments and other things. Which left only Sanada and Shinku together. Alone.

The truth was that neither of the two knew where the penthouse where they would be living was. They hadn't asked last night, so now they both had to go to Grandfather Hikaru to ask him where it was.

The two walked silently by each other. Shinku was fine by it, but Sanada was annoyed at the fact that he had to walk home with a girl none other than his fiance. He wouldn't say no to the engagement that his own grandfather had set up with Shinku's. He was too good of a son/grandson to do that. He would not dishonor his family by refusing Shinku. He could tell that she didn't want to marry him, so why didn't she say anything about it to her grandfather? Obviously it would be canceled if she would just say something. He decided that he would have to somehow convince Shinku to tell her grandfather to cancel it.

They soon reached the house. Shinku's mom was surprised to see the two walking home together already. Her eyes brimmed with tears and she kept muttering something about her daughter growing up already. Soon, Grandfather Hikaru came out.

"Shinku! Genichirou-san! Welcome to my house. What are you two doing here?" he asked with a smile on his face. He was glad to see Shinku and Sanada getting along so well.

"We don't know where we live," Shinku stated.

"Oh! I'm sorry about that then, to the two of you."

"Please do not trouble yourself over us . . . Miyaharu-san," Sanada said to the grandfather.

Grandfather Hikaru laughed and said, "We're all going to be related very soon! So there is no need for you to call me that. Just call me Grandfather Hikaru like everyone else does."

"Yes . . ." Sanada trailed off because he didn't want to seem angry over the fact that a little thing like "we're going to be related very soon" bother him.

"You both live at the Apple Tree Cottage (which wasn't a cottage but a very expensive place)."

"The place across the store that sells great bubble tea?" Shinku asked.

"That's exactly the one," Grandfather Hikaru admitted.

"Should I get some of my stuff?" Shinku was concerned that they didn't ship all of her stuff yet.

"No need for that. Everything that belongs to you is already at the penthouse. The same goes for you Genichirou-san."

The two both said their thank yous and left as quickly as they could. Shinku was secretly happy about the whole penthouse thing. Sure, she didn't want to live with Sanada, but since he was so unsocial, she would be able to lock herself in her room for days without him even noticing that she never came out. Sanada might have actually done the same thing too if he wasn't busy with tennis, kendo, and school. In fact, he decided that while he was at his new "home" he would spend most of his time locked up in his room too to avoid Shinku.

The two were in their own thoughts as they reached the penthouse. The took the elevator to the top floor and arrived at their new home. They were both very surprised to see the place already furnished. It also looked like it belonged to a magazine. The place didn't seem like something that regular people would have unless they had a home makeover. Sanada was glad to see that most of the place was in neutral colors since his favorite colors were black and gray. Shinku was okay with the color scheme too since she didn't really like bright colors.

"I'm going to go to my room now Sanada-san," Shinku said to him.

"I am too," he replied.

Shinku opened the door to what she thought was her room, but it was just a coat closet. Shinku was confused. There was only one other door. Where could it lead to? A room that led to another room maybe?

Shinku went to that door too. Sanada was standing outside of it watching her.

"That's a coat closet," she said as if to straighten things out. "This is the only other door."

He nodded and turned the knob to the door. Inside was a queen sized bed in the same colors from outside in the living room. The only thing about this room was that there were a whole bunch of boxes that had things written on them like "Shinku" and "Genichirou".

"No, no, no," Shinku whispered as she hurried to the two doors that were in the room.

The first one opened to a large and spacious bathroom with a tub that could be used as a Jacuzzi. She was getting more worried as she took in her surroundings. She ran back to the room and yanked the knob to the other door open. Inside on one wall were her clothes, and on the other wall was Sanada's clothes. It was a closet.

"No. This can't be happening," Shinku whispered as she walked around the whole penthouse to look for more rooms. There were none.

Sanada stood stock still as he realized what was going on. He was going to have to share a room and a bed with Shinku. He waked stiffly back outside to the living room while Shinku was being frantic. She paced and was opening all of the doors again as if a room would magically appear. Sanada's temper was going up and he tried to calm himself down by breathing deeply. He had never agreed to that! He had never agreed to sleep with some girl in the same bed! It was bad enough just living with her!

"Calm down Miyaharu-san," Sanada said as soon as he was calm. His hands were gripping air as he pumped his fists to calm himself down some more. To sleep in the same bed with a girl was to slack off! He could not afford such a thing. It was against him to do so.

Shinku went into the room again and took out her cell phone. She called her grandfather.

"Shinku!" he replied. "How do you like the place?"

"It only has one bedroom," Shinku growled into the phone.

"I know that, I wanted there to be one bedroom."

"Well surprise, surprise! I'm not going to sleep in the same room much less the same bed with that guy!"

"Well you're going to have to. I mean, you're already engaged, so might as well get used to it. Maybe I'll have a great-grandchild by the time you're married."

"Grandfather Hikaru!" Shinku screamed.

"You have to get used to it. This is just some training for you. Some preparation. You don't have to do anything with him, but you do have to sleep in the same room and the same bed."

"I won't agree to this."

"Then where will you go?"

"Somewhere!" Shinku clicked her phone off and threw it at the bed. She buried her face into a pillow and screamed as loudly as she could. She didn't want this. She didn't want to have to be with a stranger all of the time. Just because she was engaged to him, it didn't mean she wanted to sleep in the same bed as him! She would find another place to sleep.

Sanada had heard the scream from the living room and rushed in quickly. "What's the matter?" he asked with such a serious expression on his face that Shinku doubted he came in because she screamed.

Shinku pushed past him and out the door. "I'm leaving!" she shouted back at him.

* * *

_**Hello everybody!^^**_

_**Thank you for reading another chapter that I wrote and I would love it if you would review! **_

_**Also, don't forget to check out my website! Shinku's not on there yet though . . . Also, don't forget to vote for you favorite of my OCs on my profile. And if you want to see what Shinku looks like, her picture is on my profile. ^^**_


	3. Friend's Place

Sorry everyone for uploading this under the wrong story! I was so tired last night after coming from from watching Inception (awesome movie by the way). So here it is reuploaded!

* * *

**Chapter Three**

**Friend's Place**

After Shinku stormed out of the penthouse, she realized that she had no place to go. She didn't have any friends, and she didn't try to make any since people annoyed her. She only had her family to go home to. She couldn't though because her grandfather would be expecting her to be living happily with Sanada Genichirou at the moment. She had to make it clear to her father that she would live in the same penthouse, but not in the same room, and _definitely_ not in the same bed. She would have to see what she could do about that. Maybe buy another bed?

Shinku sighed. She ended up walking to the park and sitting on one of the swings as she thought about what to do. She was still in her school uniform since she as too busy freaking out back at the penthouse to change to her regular clothes.

As she swung, she thought of the possible people there was to go to. It was difficult because she had nearly zero friends, and the friends that she did have she didn't contact in a long time. Shinku sighed as she stood up from the swing. There was only one person that she could go to, and she didn't ever want to talk to that person again. He was a good friend, but she had done something terrible to him. She didn't even know if he forgave her or not yet. They haven't spoken in three or four years ever since they were in elementary school

Shinku shrugged her dainty shoulders before storming angrily off. She couldn't believe she was actually going to him, she had promised herself that she wouldn't ever talk to him again ever since that _incident_. She had nowhere else to go though, so desperate times meant desperate measures.

Her feet dragged as she slowly started to walk to his his house. Excuse her, his_ mansion_. They had gone to the same elementary school together before she moved.

His place was so far away though, in a completely different place. While she was in Kanagawa, he was in Tokyo. It would take a long time to get there, but if she called a taxi . . .

Shinku sighed in an exasperated way as she finally gave in and whipped out her cell phone to call a taxi. She waited ten minutes after that until the taxi finally arrived. She shut the door of the cab and said, "Tokyo. Hyotei Gakuen."

The cab stopped in front of the darkened Hyotei Gakuen. It was too late for anyone to be there. Too late for any regular person to be there at least, but Shinku knew that there would still be at least eight people still left on the grounds, training because they didn't want to lose again to either Rikkai or Seigaku.

She looked down at herself and noticed that she was still wearing the Rikkai uniform since she didn't have time to change when she got to her and Sanada's . . . new place. A shiver ran up her back as she thought of her unfortunate new home. That was one place she would never go back to if she had a choice.

Her footsteps echoed upon the cold cement sidewalk. She swore that people could hear it from miles away, or was that just her nervous heartbeat? She shook her head trying to rid herself of the thoughts. The guy was nice, too nice, he would have forgiven her by now. They hadn't seen each other since elementary school three or four years ago.

"Excuse me," a voice said behind Shinku. She turned around to see a girl with a sour expression on her face as she regarded Shinku. "The school is closed. It's only open to any of the students who _go here_ and obviously you don't."

Shinku's face wrinkled up at the thought of having to talk to such an annoying and mean girl. "I'm here to see someone," Shinku stated as she started to walk away again.

"Hey! Did you just not hear what I said? This school is closed to you!"

"It doesn't matter to me. I'll only take a second. It depends."

Shinku continued her course towards the school tennis courts as the girl followed her and started to complain again about how she shouldn't be at the school.

Shinku turned to glare at the girl. "Will you just shut up?"

The girl was left shocked as Shinku continued to walk away.

"You can't talk to me like that! Do you know who I am?"

Shinku ignored the question, but the girl kept talking.

"I'm Atobe Keigo's soon to be girlfriend! I'm his number one fan!"

_'Great. A fan girl,'_ Shinku thought.

Soon, Shinku reached the tennis courts. The girl ran up to the fence were all of the regulars were at and said something to one of them. The one she talked to immediately looked over to where Shinku was and smiled. Shinku felt creeped out at his smile and he opened the gate and walked over to her.

"Well, what is a Rikkai student doing here? Are you a fan girl sent over here to take our game plans?" the guy pushed up his circular glasses and flashed her a seductive smile.

"No," Shinku replied shortly.

"I'm Oshitari Yuushi," the guy said. He held out his hand.

Shinku didn't want to touch him, but she tried to be polite and she put her hand gingerly in his.

Instead of shaking it like she expected him to, he pulled up her hand and kissed it softly on top.

Shinku's face displayed utter shock at what he did. She had heard that that was customary in the European and English speaking countries, but she had never seen that done in Japan before. She yanked her hand out of his grasp and glared the Oshitari.

"No need to give me that look," he said coolly. "You are here for a reason after all, and I think it would be to the best of your benefit if you were nice to me."

Shinku had to admit that he was right, so she forced a smile and said, "Well, thank you very much for greeting me. My name is Miyaharu Shinku. I would . . . I would like to see someone on the team."

"Eh? Are you a fan of him? Who could it be? Anyways, you look very cute when you smile. How adorable." He patted Shinku on the head as he led her to the courts. Shinku ruffled her hair to get the scent of him off of it. He was tall, really tall, about 5'8. He was almost a complete foot taller than her 4'8 (and a half!).

Shinku's eyes widened at the sight of the courts. They had much more courts than Rikkai did, but then again they had over two hundred members, so it sort of made sense.

She saw him before he saw her since his back was turned to her. His gray ruffled hair was blowing slightly, and it brought back memories of the past. Shinku gulped at the thought of how mean and terrible she was at him. She just wanted him to forgive her.

"Ootori Choutarou," Shinku called out from her position.

He turned around and his eyes formed two huge saucers. "Shinku-san?" He stood rooted the spot.

Shinku looked down at the ground. "Hello, Ootori-san." She didn't know why she was being so formal, they had always called each other by their first names and they had known each other for a long time.

"Shinku-san!" —he rushed to where she was— "I've missed you. How have you been?"

Shock was the first thing that Shinku felt. He missed her? Impossible. If anything, he hadn't forgiven her yet. Her mouth frowned in disdain as she realized that they were being watched by all of his friends and she hated the thought of people, especially strange people, watching her ask Choutarou if she could stay at his place. Her mouth formed an upside down V as her frown deepened.

"Hey," Choutarou whispered softly. He touched her mouth with his fingers, "you shouldn't frown. Come on, be happy." He gave her a sweet smile.

Shinku swallowed her pride and her dislike for people and said, "Is it okay if I spend the night at your place? I don't have any other friends, and I can't go home."

Choutarou's eyes widened with worry. "Why can't you go home?"

"I'll explain it to you all later."

"Okay, I trust you." He smiled again.

A bad shiver ran up Shinku's spine. He shouldn't have been saying things like he trusted her. Shinku's gaze went over to his teammates and she saw that some of them were smiling hugely at Choutarou, while others were sort of looking at him in shock. Why? What happened?  
Then a red headed boy bounded up to Choutarou and asked, "A girl is going to sleep over at your house tonight?"

"I-it's not like that!" Choutarou stuttered as he blushed deeply at the meaning behind the red head's words.

"What?" Shinku asked.

"Oh!" The red head turned to her. "I'm Mukahi Gakuto!" he announced. "Who are you?"

"Miyaharu Shinku," Shinku said back.

"Pretty name!"

There a coughing noise coming from where everyone else stood. A guy with purplish-gray hair came up and said, "Choutarou-san, will you not introduce your girlfriend to ore-sama?"

Choutarou blushed again and said, "She's not my girlfriend! We're just old friends that's all."

"Old friends?" all of his teammates repeated. "Sure . . ."

Shinku's eyebrow creased in annoyance. She didn't like them when she saw them, but now she disliked them even more! "What time are you done with practice?" Shinku asked.

Choutarou turned his attention to her and forced his blush away. "I'm done right about now. You came just at the perfect time. I didn't expect you. I haven't seen you in four years, so I was surprised when I looked over and there you were. You know Shinku-san, you haven't changed a single bit. You still look and act exactly the same."

"Um . . . thank you I think." Choutarou was the only person outside of her family that she could stand and actually talk to and be nice to.

"So . . . I have a car and I'm able to drive you over to my place. Do you have a change of clothes?"

"Uh . . ." Shinku didn't answer that question.

"Hey Choutarou-san!" Gakuto called from where the other regulars are. "Atobe-buchou is getting really angry at the fact that you haven't introduced your girlfriend to any one of us yet. Well, she introduced herself to me and Oshitari-san, but other than that, no one!"

"Oh . . . um . . ." Choutarou hesitated and blushed before answering, "Everyone, this is my _friend_ Miyaharu Shinku. She's from Rikkai as you can see, but she used to go to elementary school here at Hyotei."

"She did?" everyone exclaimed.

"Um, yes, but she's a year younger than me so chances are that you didn't ever see her."

"Are you saying that she's a first year in high school now?" Jiroh piped up from the bench where he was previously sleeping.

Choutarou looked at Shinku and she nodded at him. "Yes, she is a first year in high school," he replied.

"Lets go now," Shinku whispered to Choutarou as she pulled on his sleeve like a child.

Jiroh hopped up from his bench and ran over to Shinku yelling, "How cute! She's like a little doll or a kid or something!" Jiroh scooped her in his arms bridal style and started to spin her around. Shinku closed her eyes and held on to him for dear life since she didn't want to be dropped. He was spinning around really fast too. Jiroh suddenly stopped and looked at Shinku with wide eyes. "You're scared? You really are like a child or something! That is just so adorable!" He hugged her tightly as if she were a doll.

Shinku's eyes popped out of her head and her brows got creased as she got angry and annoyed at the fact that a stranger was hugging her and swinging her around like that.

Choutarou laughed at the look on Shinku's face and said, "I think you should let Shinku-san down now Jiroh-sempai. Look at her face."

Jiroh took another look at Shinku's face and saw that her terrified look had transformed into an extremely angry/annoyed one. "Sorry!" he said quickly before putting her gently back on her feet. He patted her several times on the head because he couldn't help himself. "We should go to the Manga Tea House sometime, Shinku-chan! It's my favorite date spot!"

Shinku gave him a look and then hurried back to Choutarou, hiding behind him.

"I didn't know you liked those types of girls, Jiroh-san!" Gakuto exclaimed. "Sure she's cute, but I thought you said you liked cheerful girls!"

"I do like cheerful girls, they're my type," Jiroh said back. "It's just that she's so cute I can't help myself! I mean, look at her! She's so short, and her hands and feet are so small and her hair is so long! She's like a tiny doll or something." He patted her once on the head again.

Shinku didn't like being regarded as a doll. She noticed that Jiroh and Kirihara had the same tastes, they both liked cheerful girls. If that was the case, then why were they bothering her and talking to her so much? She was so confused at why they even talked to her. They said they liked cheerful girls, but they decided to be all nice and friendly towards her even though she always had an unintentional glare on her face.

"Oh wait! Shinku-chan!" Jiroh called out. "You go to Rikkai right? So you must know Marui Bunta! He's so cool and awesome! I have a wristband that belongs to him! I took it from him during the newcomer's tournament at ichinen a few years ago! Will you tell him hi for me? He's just so awesome!"

Shinku thought it was creepy that Jiroh had a wristband that belonged to Marui Bunta. She looked up and said, "Stop calling me by my first name since I didn't give you any permission. Call me Miyaharu-san."

There was a silence.

"Okay then!" Jiroh complied.

Standing at the back of the group was Hiyoshi Wakashi, and he was blushing extremely. Shinku was the cutest girl he saw. She looked like a doll, and he liked delicate girls. He liked how she looked like such a delicate breakable doll (though he could do without the personality).

"Why are you blushing, Hiyoshi-san?" Oshitari asked with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

"No reason," Hiyoshi quickly said.

"It is because your type of girl is a delicate girl?"

"N-no!"

"Well then, why are you staring at Miyaharu-san like that?"

"It's nothing. I'm just wondering if she's dizzy or not from being swung around by Jiroh=sempai because she looks so delicate."

"I knew it," Oshitari chuckled.

"What?"

"Nothing, Wakashi-san."

"Hmph."

Meanwhile, with every exchange of words there were, Shinku was getting more irritated. You could practically see a vein pop on her forehead as the regulars patted her on the head and introduced themselves to her. She couldn't take it anymore, so then she just shouted, "Shut up! Stop touching me! I hate people!" When she stopped shouting, her hands were gripped into fists, and she gritted her teeth. Shinku's face was extremely red as if she were blushing, but it was actually red from anger.

Choutarou sweat dropped as he grabbed Shinku's hand and said, "Well everyone, we're going to be going now. Sorry about the outburst. That's just how Shinku is. So . . . bye!"

Choutarou dragged Shinku off of the courts and to his Mercedes. Shinku, by then, had calmed down enough and was no longer red faced.

"Are you okay, Shinku-san?" Choutarou asked hesitantly.

"I'm fine." That was the end of that conversation. Shinku refused to talk until they had reached Choutarou's house.

"I think my parents will remember you," Choutarou said.

Shinku just nodded her head.

They both walked to the door and it was opened by a butler. He greet Choutarou and gave Shinku a curious look. Choutarou just shook his head at him and continued on to his parents' study.

"Mother, father," Choutarou called out. "I brought a friend home. You might remember her."

His parents looked up from what they were doing and smiled at the both of them.

"So you found a girlfriend, eh Cho-kun, my darling," his mother cooed. She walked up to the both of them and smiled widely. "This makes me so happy to see you with a girl that you like!"

"She's not my girlfriend, Mom," Choutarou said. "Anyways, she's my friend. Don't you remember? Miyaharu Shinku from elementary school?"

"Oh! I remember!" Choutarou's mother squealed. "She was so cute back then!" —She turned to Shinku— "Oh! And you're still so cute! Adorable! Come sit down with me!"

"Mom!" Choutarou groaned.

"What is it?"

"I was wondering . . . could Shinku stay the night tonight? She says she doesn't have any other place to go."

"Of course she can stay!" Choutarou's mother side with widened eyes.

"You two behaves yourself now," Choutarou's father said from his spot on an armchair reading the newspaper.

Choutarou blushed. "Of course we won't do anything!"

"Good boy then."

Choutarou turned to Shinku. "Come on Shinku-san, I'll show you to a guest bedroom and you can explain everything to me.

* * *

After a long explanation. Choutarou stared at Shinku with wide eyes.

"You're engaged?" he asked surprised.

"I am . . . unfortunately. I hate people," Shinku replied. "I never thought I would get married. I planned to spend my whole life single, but now I'm sort of forced to." Shinku grumpily sat on the guest bed, glaring at some random flower on the sheets.

"I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything."

"I'm sorry about your engagement . . . I just can't believe that it's Sanada Genichirou you're engaged to."

"I'm not thrilled about it, but the only person who seems even less happy than me is Sanada-san himself."

"Well is there anything else you want to tell me?" Choutarou asked.

"Well . . ."

* * *

Sanada looked at the clock on the wall. It said twelve, as in midnight. He kept pacing around the new living room and looking at the clock. He knew he shouldn't have let that girl go out alone. It was dangerous for a girl to got out alone at night. He couldn't help thinking about all of the bad things that happened.

It's not like he cared for her, but his whole being was always all about respect and politeness. He should have stopped her because that would have been the responsible thing to do, and trust me, Sanada Genichirou is _always_ responsible. Whether he wants to be or not.

He paced the room several times before deciding that she wasn't coming home. He couldn't just sleep though knowing that she was outside at that time of night. Sanada banged his fist against a wall to get all of his anger out. She was such a stupid girl, running out like that and everything. He hated that fact that he had to marry her when she showed to respect to people at all. Sanada let out his frustrations in a groan and hurried to put on his jacket. He took out his cell phone and called the Miyaharu residence asking for Shinku's phone number. Once he got it, he slammed the door shut and walked out of the building, searching for Shinku.

* * *

_**I thank everyone for reading this! Hopefully you'll leave a review for this chapter too! Preferably a nice one. :) That would all be awesome of you guys!**_

_**Anyways, sorry for the long chapter update, I just started school on August 4th, and I've been super busy! I have and essay due every week for Pre-AP English. So busy busy. Also, I've just run out of inspiration for a bit, but I just an awesome movie that gave it back to me! So I hope you guys enjoy it even though it's not what I wanted to be exactly.^^**_


	4. Look! Happy Couple!

**Chapter Four**

**Look! Happy Couple!**

"Ootori-san," Shinku said. She paused, she didn't know what she should say to the boy. She wasn't sure how she was suppose to apologize. "I . . . I—"

"Shinku-san!" Choutarou interrupted. "I wish you would call me by my first name again. We had always called each other by our first names. I know we haven't seen each other in a while, but I don't want it to be awkward between us."

Shinku looked up at Choutarou through her bangs. He had an earnest and thoughtful look on his face. She decided that it would be best to go along with his wishes, since he had been so nice to her; before when they went to school together and now. Shinku obliged and said, "Choutarou-kun."

A smile burst out on Choutarou's face as he heard that. "That's more like it; now I can start calling you Shinku-chan again instead of Shinku-san."

"I need to tell you something important," Shinku finally said.

"What is it?" Choutarou asked.

Shinku gave a deep breath and said, "I'm sorry."—she looked at Choutarou in the eyes—"I'm so sorry for what I did. I didn't mean to just yell at you like that and then leave you alone when you needed me. I didn't mean to just, leave without telling you. I just . . . I just couldn't bring myself to."

"Shinku-chan, why are you apologizing for that?" Choutarou questioned.

"Because before I left, I yelled at you so much, and I was so mean. I said all of those horrible things. You were the only person who even wanted to be my friend too."

"Let me tell you something." Choutarou placed both of his hands on Shinku's shoulders. "It doesn't matter what you did then, you're back now, and you even apologized. It makes up for it, Shinku-chan. Don't worry anymore. I was never angry about that in the first place." Choutarou gave out a hearty laugh. "You know what I realized just now Shinku-chan?"

"What?" Shinku asked, she had a feeling she wouldn't like the answer.

"Your apology was the most that I've heard you talk!" Choutarou started laughing again as he said that.

"I've said more words." Shinku puffed out her cheeks and looked away.

"You actually haven't. You don't tend to speak a lot. Unless of course it is to blow up at my team."

"Sorry," Shinku mumbled. She wasn't really sorry.

"Well," Choutarou got off the guest bed, "you should be going to sleep now Shinku-chan. Good night, and have good dreams!" Choutarou turned off the lights and closed the bedroom door.

Shinku laid back down on her bed and gave out a sigh. She was wondering how she could ever bring herself to sleep next to Sanada Genichirou in bed.

* * *

It was late at night already, and Sanada still couldn't find Shinku. He looked just about everywhere. He even called her parents, but they said she wasn't with them. Sanada was getting annoyed with his so called "fiancee". She was so irresponsible and rude, it was a wonder his grandparents still agreed to the arranged marriage. He had tried calling her several times, but she never picked up her phone.

Sanada sighed before going back to the penthouse and sitting on the couch. He tried to call her phone again.

_Ring. Ring. Ring. "Hello?"_

Sanada was about to say something.

_"This is Miyaharu Shinku, leave a message please."_

Nothing.

Just the answering machine.

Once again.

"That woman," Sanada gritted. He laid his head against the arm rest of the couch and decided to wait for her, after all, she would be coming home to sleep sooner or later.

. . . Right?

* * *

"Ugh . . ." Shinku groaned as her hand reached out from under the covers to grab at her cell phone. It had been ringing on and off all night, and it was interrupting her sleep like crazy. She grabbed at it and shoved it under her pillow.

It rang several more times, and as Shinku twisted under the blanket, she finally just gave up and looked at her phone. It was ringing because it was her alarm. She was late for school. With all that had happened just the day before, Shinku had forgotten about school. She sat up scratching her head as she took in her surroundings. She was in one of the guest bedrooms in Choutarou's house. She remembered.

A knock came promptly upon the door as Shinku swung her legs over the edge of the bed, "Come in," she muttered.

Choutarou opened the door, dressed in his school uniform.

"Choutarou . . . kun," Shinku yawned.

"Shinku-chan, you're going to be late for school," Choutarou informed her.

"I already am," she answered. "I need to get home, people have been calling and texting me all night. I hope that Sanada-san didn't inform everyone I was missing."

"I'll have one of my drivers drive you home, and just be sure to explain to all of them about what happened."

"I will," Shinku agreed. Choutarou led her outside since she still seemed wobbly on her feet from just waking up.

"Tell him where to go, okay Shinku-chan?" Choutarou asked.

"I'll tell him," Shinku replied.

Choutarou raised an eyebrow at how Shinku said _him_. He just decided to not comment on it though and instead he said, "Come visit me more often okay? If you don't, then I'll be forced to go to Kanagawa just to meet you and all of the Rikkai tennis members." Choutarou closed the door and waved good bye to Shinku before getting in a different limo that would take him to Hyotei.

The car ride back home was long and uneventful. Shinku didn't try to talk, and neither did the chauffer. They were both silent people, or so Shinku thought until the driver started to talk on his bluetooth since he saw that she wouldn't care. Most of the time in the limo was spent either sleeping or staring at the scenery. Shinku didn't even have Grandfather Hikaru to make fun of this time.

Eventually, the limo pulled up in front of the new penthouse. Shinku bowed to thank the driver before running to her penthouse room. It was already almost the middle of the day, so she decided to just skip school. As she opened the door, the first thing she noticed was that a person was sleeping on her couch. Scratch that, it was _Sanada_ sleeping on the couch. Shinku expected him to have been in school long ago. She sneaked up to look at him sleeping. He looked calm in his sleep, but still sort of serious, as expected of him to be of course. She leaned in forwards a little bit and put her small hand on his cheek. He didn't move. Shinku quietly rubbed her thumb across his cheek before she realized what she was doing. She quickly got up with a strange and weirded-out look on her face as she headed for one of the closets in the penthouse. She got out blanket and laid it on top of Sanada while he slept. She decided to go int the kitchen and set up an early lunch since she didn't get to eat at all.

Sanada slowly woke up to the sounds of boiling broth and the smell of fresh vegetables. He sat up and groaned a bit. His neck was a bit sore from the way he had slept on the couch waiting for Shinku. He sat up to find the blanket on him. He hoped that Shinku was home, it would be weird to go and find someone else in his new home. He stretched a bit before heading into the kitchen.

Shinku's back was turned to Sanada, but she heard his footsteps.

"You're home," Sanada said angrily.

"Of course I am," Shinku replied.

"Where were you last night? When did you come home?"

"I was at a friend's house. I came home a tiny bit ago."

"Oh?" Sanada's eye twitched a bit in anger. He was angry that she just left like that without telling anyone. She didn't know responsibility at all!

Shinku ignored his comment and turned around to glare at him in the eyes. "Do you have a problem with what I do?"

"You should tell me before you leave to go somewhere."

"You don't own me. I don't have to tell you anything."

Sanada closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. If she was just a boy instead and a regular on the tennis team, he could slap her as hard as he wanted for being disrespectful. She was neither a boy or a tennis regular though, so he couldn't do it. Sanada took a deep breath before saying, "We are engaged now. To each other. You're my fiancee and I'm yours. We're both obligated to trust each other and to tell each other where we go when we leave. We have to start being responsible, especially since we're engaged and living together. "

Shinku was silent for a few moments. Sanada was right, but that didn't mean she wanted to listen to him about it all thoroughly. Sanada on the other hand was a bit surprised at what he said to Shinku. He never thought that _he_ would be the person to say such a thing, he always thought the girl would be the first to say something like that, but then again, he wouldn't run away and sleep at another person's house, one of the opposite sex nonetheless.

"You have to be more responsible," Sanada said again.

"I am responsible. I don't need to explain myself to you," Shinku said.

"Your family is a pretty big family wouldn't you say?" Sanada asked, changing the subject all of a sudden.

"Uh . . . yeah," Shinku replied. She was confused. Her family did own a big pharmaceutical company, and her parents' pastry shop just started to get attention too.

"The press is probably working on the story about our engagement as we speak. Wouldn't it be bad for your family if there were rumors going around that while you're engaged you go around and sleep at other guys' house?"

Shinku was silent as she thought about what Sanada said. The one thing that Shinku never wanted was her family name to go down in shame or be disrespected. She didn't want to tarnish her family name. She didn't want to disappoint her family.

Shinku sighed, "I'm sorry, Sanada-san."

Sanada stared at her as he continued to listen.

"I should have told you where I was and I shouldn't have run out like that." Shinku was swallowing a huge part of her pride to say all of those words to Sanada.

"So where were you?" Sanada questioned.

"I was at Choutarou Ootori's house. He's a childhood friend."

Sanada stiffened at the name. He recognized the name of course. Hyotei was one of the most prestigious schools in the country, and they were famously known for their tennis team which had over 200 members. Hearing that Shinku was such close friends with the regular of an enemy school was surprising to hear. Actually, it was surprising to hear that Shinku had any friends, especially friends out of the district.

Sanada's voice was a bit stiff as he asked, "So how long have you two been friends?"

Shinku sighed, preparing for the onslaught of questions that were sure to come. "We both went to the elementary school that Hyotei has. We were friends for about two, maybe three years, but then I moved here." Shinku left out the part where she hurt Choutarou.

"Ah." Sanada didn't say any more as Shinku started serving their lunch. It was a piping hot bowl of miso soup. Sanada licked his lips as he started eating, miso soup was one of his favorite meals, and it helped that Shinku was a good cook. Sanada got seconds and started eating some more.

Then, the unexpected happened as Shinku asked, "Do you want to go out today?"

Sanada almost choked on seaweed that was in the soup as he looked at her. Was she serious? There was no way that Miyaharu Shinku was being serious at the moment.

"Well do you?" Shinku now had an annoyed look on her face. She didn't like repeating things.

Sanada cleared his throat before saying, "If you truly wish to go out, then we'll go." He didn't want to make their marriage any more difficult than it already was. He had taken an oath to both his parents/grandparents and to her parents/grandparents that he would treat her right and take care of her as best as he could. And as much as he didn't want to do that, Sanada was a man of his word, no matter what.

Shinku raised her eyebrows at his answer, and he replied with a glare. The ever-constant glare that was on her face probed him, and he decided to ignore the look. He finished quickly, and since she didn't want to eat, he grabbed his coat and waited at the door for her while she got her things from the coat closet that she had—just the day before—thought was her room.

The two left their penthouse silently and walked the streets of Kanagawa. Sanada looked mature, and no one would question if he was ditching school or not. He was seventeen already (eighteen in May), and he looked mature for his age. Shinku on the other hand looked as if she could still be in middle school with her short stature. However, a look at her face would prove anyone who dared think that she was a middle schooler otherwise.

The two seemed to attract a lot of attention wherever they went. There were whispers from strangers about how they looked together, and even though the two didn't act like a couple, the diamond ring on Shinku's left hand ring finger was more than enough to show the world that the two were engaged.

"Look at how cute those two look together!" a girl whispered.

"I know! She's so short and he's so tall! I suppose opposites do attract," her friend giggled.

The two ignored the whispers and continued to walk around, once in a while stopping to look in windows. As they stopped in front of a store to window shop, Grandfather Hikaru walked out.

"Eh? Is that my beautiful granddaughter and her fiance standing there?" he chuckled.

"Hello Grandfather Hikaru," the two replied.

"What are you doing outside of school?"

Silence.

"I bet you two are skipping so you can go on a date huh?" Grandfather Hikaru winked at the both of them. He was probably the only adult in both of their families that would be okay with them doing that.

"N-no! Grandfather Hikaru! You have it all wrong!" Shinku tried to argue.

"Bup bup! I won't be hearing any of your excuses. There's no need to be modest when you two are now engaged. Go ahead! Hold hands! Kiss! Make out! Do whatever you would like!"

Sanada stood there as still as a rock when he heard Grandfather Hikaru say all of those things.

"And maybe I'll get a great-grandchild by the time you two get married!"

Sanada stiffened even more until he was like a statue in the middle of the street. Was her grandfather really suggesting that the two of them sleep together?

"I don't mind you two doing anything, I would love great-grandchildren!"

Apparently he was serious.

"Grandfather Hikaru!" Shinku hissed. A genuine glare was seen in her eyes.

"Sorry about that dear," he replied. "I do think you two should hold hands though. I mean, you guys need to step it up!" The two thought that he would leave, but he just stood there, looking at the two expectantly.

Shinku was the first to understand what he wanted, and her face turned an angry, bright red as she snaked her hand into Sanada's. At first, Sanada was surprised, but by the look that was on Grandfather Hikaru's face, he could tell that the old man was enjoying seeing the two of them looking like a real couple.

"Don't you let go of each other now," Grandfather Hikaru joked, winking at them again. He waved with his left hand as he started to walk away from the couple.

The two continued to hold hands as they walked around. Shinku's face was tinted a pink color from embarrassment. She was afraid that if she let go, her grandfather would come sprinting around the corner yelling profanities at them to hold hands again because he wanted them to act more like a couple.

Comments floated around them like snowflakes during the winter.

_"Don't those two look so happy together?"_

_ "They look so in love!"_

_ "That guy is really hot."_

_ "Look at that happy couple!"_

Shinku ignored the comments that people made. If she listened to them, she felt as if she would burst from anger and just go crazy on them. She didn't think Sanada or her family would approve of such a thing though, so she didn't do anything. Instead, she just plastered a glare on her face and gave anyone who said anything about them the stink eye.

"Eh? And who is this lovely couple?"

The two turned around just to stare at the Rikkai regulars in shock. Marui Bunta was the one who had said that while the others just looked at the two with smiles gracing their faces.

"Who would have thought," Niou snickered, "that Sanada-fukubuchou would skip school to go on a date with his fiancee!"

"That's quite nice of him, don't you think?" Yukimura asked. "They're finally starting to act like a couple."

"What are you guys doing out of school?" Sanada demanded.

"We should ask you the same thing," Renji replied.

Sanada didn't say anything in reply to his friend.

"Anyways, you know that the tennis regulars are allowed to leave school for lunch."

Sanada mentally cursed himself for forgetting that.

"Christmas is coming up soon," Bunta stated. Indeed Christmas was just a month or so away. December was in just a few days and as the days went by, the chilling coldness got worse.

"It is," Sanada grunted.

"Are you two going to celebrate it together?" Yagyuu asked. His glasses gleaming.

Shinku and Sanada both gave a curt nod that expressed their unhappiness at the idea. Of course they were going to spend the holidays together. As if they had a choice. Shinku wanted to bang her head multiple times against a wall just at the idea of waking up to Christmas with Sanada right _there, _and Sanada was regretting the moment when he would wake up in the morning thinking that he was at home to celebrate a happy holiday with his family just to turn around and see Shinku.

The regulars gave the two creepy smiles as an idea formulated in their minds.

The two were too busy sulking at the inevitable to notice what the regulars were up to.

* * *

**A/N: I'm sorry for taking so long to update you guys. I've not only been busy, but also lazy during my free time too. -_-**

**I would really love and appreciate reviews! You know how I am! :) Also, Shinku has been added to the OC list on my website! Go check out her profile!**


	5. School Romance

**A/N: **Everyone! I'm so so so sorry I haven't updated any of my stories for the past 6 months. My laptop has been broken since January (no joke) and I haven't gotten to getting it fixed until now. It would mysteriously shut down every five minutes, and every time I would try to turn it back on it'd just shut down right after I pressed the button (about 2 seconds after to be more accurate). But I finally got it fixed! My fan was broken and that's why it was shutting down. Anyways, I hope you like the new chapter!

* * *

**Chapter Five**

**School Romance**

Shinku's steps echoed softly as she walked through the halls of Rikkai Dai High. Small snippets of conversation could be heard as she walked past various people, mostly girls. Shinku's brow furrowed in frustration as she tried to ignore what was being said, and for once, the glare on her face was a genuine one, and it had been planted there for a few days.

The whole school was talking about how she and Sanada had skipped school to go on a "date" together. It came as even more of a surprise since Sanada apparently never EVER skipped school. No matter what. The regulars had probably told others since they were the only ones that saw the two that day, and ever since, Shinku's school life had been a living hell. Her home life with Sanada was only a bit better. She was seeing less and less of him since he stayed later than usual to practice tennis. It was probably to avoid her; she wasn't surprised.

"Shinku-chan! Shinku-chan!"

Shinku almost stopped, but she continued to walk, ignoring the voice that was annoying her.

"Shinku-chan, stop avoiding us!" Marui Bunta put his arm around her shoulders as he guided her to away from her usual lunch spot in the library. A chuckle from Niou Masaharu was heard behind him as he pushed her from behind to the regulars' lunch table that all of the tennis regulars always sat at. Shinku had stopped moving her feet as soon as the two arrived, but Niou was still able to push her, and Marui was still able to drag her to the table.

"You need to stop being so cold to us," Nious fake-scolded. "We're Sanada's best men, and we're sure to get an important role in the wedding. You don't want us spiking the drinks or pulling pranks on the guest do you?"

". . . No," Shinku muttered.

"Don't listen to him, Shinku-chan!" Marui exclaimed comfortingly as he patted her arm. "We'll be the best. Plus, you're sure to have cake at your wedding right? Right?"

"Uh . . ." For the past few days, the regulars had been really into Sanada's and Shinku's relationship. They were always trying to get them together, and through all of their hassles, Shinku had learned a bit about each of them. She didn't quite know what to say about Marui's unhealthy cake obsession, or Niou's trickster lifestyle that he couldn't seem to live without.

"Idiot," Niou scoffed at Marui, "they're not going to have a western wedding! Have you seen how traditional Sanada's family is? They're gonna have a plain old, boring Japanese wedding. They might not even have cake!"

"NO! You have to have a western wedding!" Marui shouted.

A vein popped out on Shinku's forehead as she used her book bag hit both Marui and Niou as hard as she could in the face. They both fell to the ground a bit dazed, but otherwise fine. It was more from shock than the actual hit. Shinku walked up to them with a furious fire in her eyes as she stepped on both of their feet about a dozen times.

"You better shut the fuck up about the wedding, or else I'll kill you," Shinku threatened. The upside down V that was her mouth deepened as she glared at them.

"Aw, come on," Niou whined. "Everyone already knows you and Sanada are a couple."

"They think it's just a school romance."

"Well, maybe they should know the truth." Shinku wanted to walk up to Niou and rip that smirk off his face. Instead, she turned around and walked away towards the library.

"Look what you did," Marui accused.

"I didn't do anything," Niou replied.

"What about the plan?"

Niou just gave a shrug.

The two regulars got back up on their feet and chased Shinku. They herded her back to the regulars' table. Her face was pinched, and she was clearly unhappy. Her feet dragged against the floor as they made their way into the lunchroom. All eyes were on the three of them and talking immediately ceased.

The two plopped Shinku down at the Regular's table right next to Sanada. It made her uncomfortable to be forced to sit so close to him when all she wanted to do was run away with her face hidden. She wasn't too comfortable living in the spotlight; especially such a bright spotlight that was cast upon her against her own will. She was known for her eyes and for her attitude, but it became a regular thing that ceased to be of interest in a week.

Sanada's face was pinched as Shinku was pushed up against his side. He didn't like everyone thinking that the two were in a real relationship. It was a burden to him and his team. He also didn't like public displays of affection, and it made him a bit angry that Shinku was sitting so close to him. He wished that she would move; he still didn't get a chance to ask her to ask her family to cancel the whole engagement. She didn't seem to like their situation any more than he did, so he couldn't understand why she hadn't said anything to her family yet. Could it be that she actually liked him? The possibilities were high, many girls in the school liked him and his teammates. It was practically impossible for her not to have heard or even known about the regulars. Of course she was a 1st year while he was a 3rd—a senior, but everyone knew who the regulars were with her as the only exception.

Yukimura smiled at the awkward couple sitting before him before asking, "How come you two haven't been on another date since the one we saw you on?"

"We're not really in a relationship," Sanada replied stoically. He wanted to get the point across to everyone.

"You're getting married, it's completely fine to admit that you're a couple." A smile graced Yukimura's lips, but it wasn't a nice one.

"Yukimura-sempai, please don't talk about that while at school," Shinku whispered. It was so soft that everyone just barely caught it. Plus, Shinku didn't use a lot of long sentences, so for some of the regulars it was a surprise.

"Why Shinku! Two long sentences in the same ten minute time span? That's amazing!" Niou said in mock surprise. Sarcasm was written across his face. "I'm so proud of my little 1st year girl. She's growing up and getting social skills!"

He was rewarded for his comment with a glare.

"Ignore Niou, Shinku-san," Yagyuu said, ever the gentleman.

"He's just a douche," Kirihara added.

Yagyuu cleared his throat. "Anyways, he doesn't mean what he said so you shouldn't think about him too much."

"Not think about me?" Niou shouted. "That's practically impossible! No one can resist me!"

"You're so egotistical Niou!" Marui harrumphed. "I'm the genius of the team, you're just some stupid trickster. Plus, you don't get nearly as much attention as me and Jackal. He's Brazilian you know, and a lot of people love foreigners. They're exotic!"

"I wouldn't say that I'm exotic Marui," Jackal chuckled. "Though I do appreciate your efforts of making me known to Niou."

No one noticed that Shinku had ceased to talk or to pay attention to any of them. She just tuned them out and ate her lunch in silence, not looking at any of the regulars.

"Hey, Shinku-chan! Are you even paying attention?"

Shinku shook out of her daze to look up. It was Kirihara who talked to her.

"I have to leave," Shinku stated flatly. She gathered up her stuff before four pair of hands grabbed at her and forced her to sit down again.

"Sit with us Shinku! Where do you even have to go?"

"The library." Shinku yanked herself out of their grasps and ignored all of their shouts and pleadings. The only voice missing was Sanada's. She didn't mind though, she just wanted to be alone. She quickly rushed away from the lunch room into her sanctuary—the library. It was her safe haven in a school full of tennis players and fan girls. She was tempted to text or call Choutarou since he was her only friend, but she decided against it.

A sigh escaped from Shinku's lips as she settled herself at a table in the corner of the library. It was surrounded by books and hardly anyone came near the section. She was just about to read _Crime and Punishment_ when voices drifted towards her. Shinku put down her book and continued to sit at the table, no one really knew where the table was so the closest they would get would be the science book section.

"Can you believe that _he_ would go for a freak like _her_?" a girl's voice spat vehemently.

"Seriously, you're so much better and sexier Keiko, no man can resist you," a few girls said.

"I don't even want to think about how she _tricked_ him into dating her in the first place. How can a sexy, professional tennis player like him go for that bitch? She's so rude and she has no respect for other people at all! She doesn't talk and she acts as if she's the only person in the world! Sanada-sama would never go for someone like that. He should have gone out with me! It was disgusting to see how close she was sitting to him at lunch. He didn't even like it! You could see on his face."

Ah, Shinku now understood that the girls were talking about her and Sanada. She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. As much as she would've liked to do something, there was no way a girl of her stature and strength could take on five girls much taller than her. She bit her tongue so she wouldn't end up shouting something to them. The taste of blood was present in her mouth.

"You don't need to worry though Keiko," a girl stated. "You can get any man you want, you're notorious for that. You're always seducing men left and right. So I'm sure that you can seduce Sanada Genichirou and force him to dump the girl he's dating."

"I doubt he's even dating her for real," Keiko scoffed. "Like I said, there's no way a guy like that would ever go for a girl like her. He deserves a real woman, one that can satisfy his needs instead of the little girl that someone tricked him into dating her. Let's leave now, the bell's about to ring and I have all the time in the world to work on him since he's in all of my classes."

The girls filed out, their shoes making soft sounds on the wood of the floor.

Shinku scowled to herself as she thought about what she just heard. Her anger was building up inside her like wood being thrown on a bonfire, but she knew that she couldn't do anything without tarnishing her family name. As much as she would've liked to scream and kick, she would just have to hold it in her. She didn't like being submissive though, so she'd have to do something.

oOo

School was over and Shinku still couldn't help but think about what she overheard. Instead of going to her club activity though, she decided to go and watch the tennis team practice. After all, she and Sanada were a "couple" and their nonexistent school romance needed to come to life, but only to make those girls jealous of them and realize that no matter what happened, Sanada and her were together for life (not that Shinku liked it that way). If they didn't say so much bad stuff about her, Shinku would've been glad they were trying to take Sanada away. She would've been relieved, but as it goes, they spoke a ton of crap about her.

Kirihara spotted her as she made her way to the courts. "Shinku-chan! What are you doing here? I thought you had clubs. Oh well it doesn't matter, I'm glad you're here."

Shinku nodded in greeting.

"Are you still not talking to me that much? I thought we were friends! Anyways, I'm glad that I don't have to force you to come for once. You never want to watch us, and especially when there are fan girls too."

Shinku glared at Kirihara for reminding her of all of the fan girls. Kirihara thought it was just her regular look though so he didn't comment or think anything about it.

The regulars were mildly surprised to see Shinku watching them for their afternoon practice. She only came in the mornings, and only because she was forced to. She never came of her own free will before.

"Sanada-san," Shinku said standing close to him.

"Shinku-san," Sanada said in reply.

Shinku could feel the waves of hate coming from Keiko and her group of friends as she scooted closer to Sanada. As uncomfortable as Shinku was, she wasn't going to back out when Keiko was watching and getting unnerved by it.

"Shinku!" Marui shouted as he put his arm around her shoulder and directed her towards the bench she always sat at. "Getting serious with Sanada eh?" He gave her a wink to show that he was just kidding.

As Marui talked and Shinku ignored him, Sanada glanced from her to Keiko on the sidelines. He would obviously tell that the 3rd year girl was angry because of 1st year Shinku, but he couldn't fathom why. He felt slightly unnerved at the bloodlust he felt coming from Keiko. During all of practice, Sanada kept a close eye on Shinku to make sure that Keiko and her friends wouldn't do anything to her. He had made an oath to Grandfather Hikiaru that he would always protect Shinku, and he would never break a promise, no matter how much it chagrined him. However, his plan of watching over Shinku at practice started to affect his playing skills since he was too focused on her.

Yukimura noticed the change and came up to Sanada. "You shouldn't have your mind wandering so much during practice."

Sanada tore his eyes away from Shinku for a moment to look at Yukimura. "I'm very sorry buchou, it's just that..."

Yukimura's gaze followed Sanada's until they landed on the small girl. His smile widened as an devilish glint appeared in his eyes. "Oh I see, you're finally becoming infatuated with the girl."

Sanada gave a glare to his captain. "Of course not! I would never fall for a person like her, it's just that I gave her grandfather an oath that I would protect her, and those girls over there look like they want to rip into her!"

"So you care about her." Yukimura had a sly look on his face as he inclined his head to look at Sanada.

"You know that's not the case. I just don't break oaths or promises of any kind." Sanada was getting annoyed at the questions Yukimura was posing.

"You do know who those girls are don't you?"

"No, do you?"

"You know Keiko-san at least don't you?"

"I do, she's in every one of my classes." Sanada didn't understand where this conversation was going.

"You also know that she likes you right?"

Sanada had a serious expression on his face as he heard this piece of news. He was so oblivious to the feelings of girls towards him.

"That's why she looks like she's about to kill Shinku-san," Yukimura pointed out. Keiko had her whole group with her watching Sanada. "You better do something."

Sanada couldn't think of a single thing to do though, but to his luck, Niou had headed over to Shinku. He could at least protect her if something went wrong.

"Shinku! Glad you could join us. Puri~," Niou said as he sat down next to Shinku.

Shinku looked at him for a brief moment before turning her attention back to the sky.

"Are you just going to sit there? You're not even watching us!"

No comment.

"Shinku, if you don't talk to me...I'll find a way to break your cello or force you to talk to all of the angry fan girls that hate you." Niou had a smirk on his face as he threatened her.

"You wouldn't," Shinku hissed.

"I would, my dear Shinku, and no one—let me repeat, NO ONE—can stop me."

"What do you want?"

"Well, it's just a small favor really..."

oOo

Practice was over early that day, ending at five o'clock instead of the usual seven or eight at night. Shinku and Sanada walked home together in silence. They both preferred it that way. Occasionally one of them would look at the other, but that was the only form of communication that was passed.

Sanada decided that he couldn't stand the silence anymore. He gave a sigh before saying, "I don't want you to come to our practices anymore. At least not the afternoon ones."

"And why can't I?" Shinku defiantly asked. She hated being commanded. "I have every right ot be there, just like your slutty fan girls."

"That's why I don't want you to come. One of them was about to kill you today."

"I don't care." Shinku raised her chin high and gave out a "Hmph!"

"Well I promised your grandfather I would protect you."

Shinku looked at Sanada. He was a man of his word then. She could see that even though he would rather not have anything to do with her, he would keep his promise. Since he seemed so sincere, Shinku recounted all that she heard in the library.

"They want to seduce me?" Sanada asked with a raised eyebrow.

"That's right."

"That's impossible. I can't be seduced."

"Well apparently she gets every guy she wants. I heard she was a huge slut though."

Sanada's mouth curved up a tiny bit as he asked, "Are you jealous?"

Shinku's ears turned red at the question. "Of course not! I wouldn't get jealous over you or over anyone at all. She is a slut."

"And how do you know?"

"Just shut up." Shinku attempted to push him to no avail before stomping ahead of him to their penthouse. Sanada followed silently behind her. Neither of them liked their new school romance.

* * *

_**Everyone! Please please please review! I've been out for a while and I would love love love it to hear what you think about the story. :)**_

_**Also, check out my fanfiction website (on my profile) to get more info about the characters and stories, and don't forget to vote on my profile for you favorite OC of mine! :D**_


	6. Niou's Favor

A/N: Thanks for reading this guys! Sorry I haven't updated this for a while, but you have to admit, I've been doing sort of okay at updating for the past two weeks :)

* * *

**Chapter Six**

**Niou's Favor**

"No."

"What? Why not Shinku-chan? You look adorable!" Niou said with an evil smirk on his face. "Anyways," his eyes glinted maliciously, "You promised that you would do a favor for me, and this is the favor I want. Do you want me to break your cello? Do you want me to get you into terrible confrontations with your fiance's fangirls and the fangirls of the rest of the regulars? There's nothing that I can't do, Shinku-chan, just remember that. Puri~"

"Don't call me by my first name," Shinku stated flatly.

"What was that Shinku-chan? What did you say? Did you say that you wanted to have terrible confrontations with the fangirls? If that's the case, I can help you right now." Niou took out his phone and started scrolling through the contacts.

"No!" Shinku jumped, trying to grab the phone from Niou's hand. However he was about a good foot taller than her, she couldn't reach when he put his arm up.

"You know what you have to do, Shinku-chan. It won't be that bad will it?"

"It will be."

"Then just suck it up, or you know what will happen. Puri~"

Niou smirked, twirling his phone around his fingers while Shinku glared up at him with a pout on her lips. She knew that she had to do it.

oOo

"I'm worried about Shinku-chan," Kirihara stated one morning in the locker rooms. The tennis morning practice was just over and the boys were all changing into their school uniforms again. "Every time I see her she looks so tired! It's like Sanada-senpai has been working her to death or something, like how he works us to death on the tennis court."

Every head turned towards Sanada who was glaring very obviously at Kirihara. "I haven't done anything to her," he stated. "Actually, I've noticed it too."

He hesitated after saying that. Sanada didn't really care too much about her or what she did, but she seemed to be getting unhealthy, and he didn't want Grandfather Hikaru to see her and think that Sanada had broken his promise. Sanada didn't mistreat Shinku, but if he wasn't nice to her, she might never break the engagement. He still didn't understand why she still didn't break up the engagement. She seemed unhappy to be engaged or to be even in his company, and she made him sleep on the couch every night because she didn't want to sleep in the same bed as him.

"So what's wrong with her?" Jackal ventured to ask.

"I don't know," Sanada replied. A frown appeared on his face as he tried to think of things Shinku would be doing. "She comes home every night at nine and doesn't sleep until eleven. She eats, does homework, showers, and sleeps. Every night it's the same and she always looks like she's about to die. At least she's smart though, she finishes all of her homework from every class in thirty minutes every day."

"Oh, is Sanada noticing his little fiancee now?" Yukimura teased.

"That's not it. I don't care about her that much, but her behavior is suspicious."

"Yeah, it might tarnish Sanada's reputation if Shinku is cheating," Marui joked.

"Wait you guys, do you think she is . . . ?" Kirihara asked suddenly.

A silence permeated the room for a minute while everyone thought, but then they all suddenly burst into laughter.

"HAHA! That little pipsqueak of a girl cheating? That's impossible! HAHA! She doesn't even like people!" Niou roared.

"I KNOW! HAHA! She wouldn't be attracted to anyone!" Marui laughed as he slapped his knee.

"Still though," Kirihara finally said as he wiped the tears that fell from his eyes from laughing so hard, "I wonder what she's up to every day from four to nine. I see her leave as soon as her club ends, she doesn't even stay waiting for us anymore. And every time I see her in the halls, she looks pale, and tired. She doesn't even listen to me when I talk."

"Not that she ever did before," Marui commented.

"Yeah, but before she would tell me to go away or shut up, but now she just walks aimlessly like a zombie while I talk to her, it's like she doesn't even realize that there are people in the halls or that I'm talking to her."

Everyone packed their clothes and books up as they thought about the things that Shinku could possibly be doing after school for five hours.

Niou, however, stays behind a bit and lets out a soft "Puri~"

oOo

Shinku was tired. It was lunchtime, and all she wanted to do was find a place to sleep. She would go to the library, but it was closed during lunch that day and she couldn't stand the thought of sleeping at a lunch table where everyone would see her and maybe even try to talk to her. Keiko still wanted to hurt her and get rid of her. She hadn't done anything yet to try to break up Shinku and Sanada, but who knew. She could do something unexpectedly to try and break them up. Shinku only noticed though that Keiko would occasionally glare at her while she walked in the halls.

Shinku kept walking on aimlessly, even when Kirihara found her.

"Shinku-chan! How are you?" Kirihara asked.

Shinku was too blanked out to even reply to Kirihara or to tell him to go away, like what she really wanted to do.

"Okay . . ." Kirihara stared awkwardly at the ceiling while still walking with Shinku. She always walked into a locker door, before he quickly pulled her out of the way. "Watch where you're walking, Shinku! You almost ran into that locker!"

"Hm."

"Shinku! You stop right now and talk to me!" Kirihara shouted as he stopped walking. His legs were spread apart and his shoulders squared—his tennis stance—as he stared intently at her. Everyone else in the hall was staring intently too.

"What?" Shinku asked coldly.

"What have you been up to every day from four til nine?"

A glaringly red blush spread across Shinku's cheeks as she glared at Kirihara for real. "NONE of your FUCKING BUSINESS, Kirihara-senpai!" Shinku quickly stormed away before Kirihara could get over the shock of Shinku screaming at him.

"Uh . . ." Kirihara was speechless as he watched her disappear around a corner. He quickly gathered his senses again and sprinted to the regulars' table in the cafeteria. "You will not believe what Shinku just said."

"Um. . . something like 'shut up'?" Marui suggested.

"Nope, not this time."

"Then what is it?" Yagyuu asked, pushing his glasses up to hide his curiosity.

"She yelled at me," Kirihara stated with a weird look on his face.

"Oh! How _unfathomable_," Niou said in mock surprise as he pretended to faint. "Miyaharu Shinku yelling at _you_, Kirihara Akaya. Oh! The shock! The disgust! The surprise!"

"Shut up, Niou-senpai! I'm serious here! You all know how quiet Shinku-chan is right?"

"Well, she doesn't like to talk," Renji added.

"Anyways, she just yelled at me in the hall. _Really loudly_! She just blew up and yelled at me at the top of her lungs! Aren't you guys surprised? I mean, she never talks louder than usual, but she just blew up today!"

"Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later," Jackal said.

"Wait, what? What do you mean?" Kirihara asked.

"We know she's not a loud person, but with how annoying you are Kirihara, she was going to yell at you like that sooner or later," Niou snickered.

"Not even," Kirihara said defiantly. "We're best friends."

Crickets could be heard after Kirihara spoke. Everyone gave him a disbelieving look as he stood there.

"What?" Kirihara asked. "She has no friends, and Sanada-senpai doesn't even talk to her even though they're _you know_. I'm the only one that talks to her, so obviously, I'm her best friend."

"That's not true," Marui argued. "I talk to her every day during morning practices. She just doesn't talk back, that's all."

"I tried _slurp_ to ask her what _slurp_ she was doing _slurp_ for five hours every day," Kirihara said between slurps of his ramen noodles.

"What did she say?" Renji asked. He took out his data notebook.

"Put that away Renji!" Jackal scolded. "Geez, I knew that I was the baby-sitter for Akaya, but I didn't think that you'd be one of the people taking data on Shinku-san. She's just a young girl."

"She is pretty young isn't she?" Marui agreed. "She's two years younger than us. Just a first year. A baby."

"I can't imagine what's going to happen next year," Yagyuu added. "When all of us are gone for university and she'll be all alone. Depending on what university Sanada goes to, she either might have to move with him or she might not live with him anymore since she has to go to school here. Sanada won't be there for her anymore."

"Not that he ever was there for her," Niou smirked.

"Hey! She still has me you guys! Her best friend!" Kirihara shouted.

"What about when you leave?" Renji asked without even looking up from his notebook.

"Oh . . ." Kirihara continued to eat his noodles to fill the silence that fell down upon the table.

"Kirihara," Yukimura said with a smile.

"Yes, buchou?"

"What were you saying about what you asked Shinku-san?"

"Oh! Yeah! Anyways, I asked her what she was doing and she just blew up at me! She said it was 'none of my fucking business', and then she ran away. She was really angry this time."

"Now I'm really curious what she's doing!" Marui exclaimed. "I have an idea." He motioned for the others to put their heads closer to his as he whispered, "Let's follow her after school today. This way we can find out what she's doing!"

"Great idea," Niou agreed. He had an odd look in his eyes that was indiscernible to the others. A small smirk tugged at his lips as he watched the others discuss on how to follow Shinku after school without being caught. His eyes glittered with the thought of what would happen if they did find out what Shinku was up to, and he couldn't help but let out a small chuckle.

"Excuse me, Niou?" Yukimura asked. His smile was on his face, but the look he gave Niou suggested that he knew that Niou had something to do with Shinku's odd disappearances for the past week and a half, but he didn't say anything. Yukimura just gave Niou a pointed look.

"Oh, I was just thinking about how we could not get caught," Niou lied. "We should be in disguises. Puri~"

"You're the only one good at disguising yourself, Niou," Yagyuu stated. "We can't all be like you, and we can't all disguise ourselves as other people as convincingly as you."

"You would know that the most, wouldn't you Yagyuu. Anyways, it won't be fun if we don't go in disguises. We can pretend we're in a spy movie or something. It would be fucking awesome if we were in a movie. We would make millions of dollars."

"We would," Marui and Kirihara agreed, nodding their heads.

"So that settles it," Niou said, standing up. We'll meet after school to get in our disguises. Now if you all excuse me, I have to arrange that."

Niou walked away with a smirk on his face. He wondered what Shinku would do if anyone found out about the favor she was doing for him. She might just blow a gasket. However, the look on her face and her reaction would be way funnier and worth more than anything that she might be able to say or do (not that she could do much) to him. So he went to get their costumes from the drama department.

oOo

Shinku was extra careful after school when she was leaving. She knew that the guys had started to become suspicious of her and her behavior. If Niou hadn't threatened her into doing the favor he needed, she wouldn't have any problems and she wouldn't be embarrassed at having to look like _that_. She shook her head at the image and looked around to make sure no one was watching her before she started to make her way across the street.

Behind her, the guys of the tennis team had decided to follow her. They were all in their disguises as they made their way across the street too, a few minutes after Shinku had crossed. They wanted to stay at a safe distance.

"I don't understand," Niou said. He had on a black wig in a hairstyle that was somewhat familiar to the others. "I understand why Marui, Kirihara and I are going, but why are the rest of you going?"

"Because you dragged me to come along with you," Yagyuu said. He was dressed up as a red-headed nerd in a different school's uniform.

"I came along to keep Marui under control," Jackal said. He was wearing a huge rice-picker hat and a rice picker costume. "Oh, and by the way Niou, this costume really sucks ass. I thought we were suppose to be disguised and blending in, I stand out!"

"You already stand out, Jackal!" Niou argued. "You're fucking Brazilian! It doesn't matter that you're dressed like a rice farmer because you already stand out!"

"Well you're making me stand out way more! No rice farmer is going to be out in the middle of the city! This disguise would only work if we were in the country!"

"Well the fucking hat disguises your fucking face!"

"Well you two be quiet before Shinku hears us!" Yukimura whispered. His blond wig kept falling into his eyes as he tried to speak to them, and his fake glasses kept sliding off his nose. "I do agree with Jackal though, Niou. These costumes are kind of bad. My wig and glasses are too big for my head."

"Geez, everyone is a critic," Niou muttered. "It's not my fault you guys can't disguise yourself as good as how I'm disguised." He turned around to face them fully, a serious expression on his face, and for those few moments that he was serious, he looked exactly like Sanada. From his hair, to his eyes, to his expression.

"Why the hell are you dressed like me, Niou?" Sanada demanded angrily. "If we get caught, Shinku will think that I'm following her!"

"You are following her! It's just that now it looks like your body is following her too. Puri~"

"You guys are uncontrollable," Yukimura groaned. "I almost regret coming with you. Almost."

Sanada was fuming in his disguise. He wore a brown wig that reached his shoulders. Niou made him wear shades to cover his serious face. The shades covered at least half of his face, and completely covered his pissed off expression. The only thing you could see was the angry scowl on his lips.

Kirihara and Marui were dressed in the same clothes, with the exact same wigs. They were suppose to be twins since—according to Niou—they were both "short and hyper-active".

Renji followed a bit behind the rest with his data notebook in front of his face. His black wig was short, and styled like Echizen Ryoma's hair. He even wore a white cap on top of his head. "Niou," Renji started, "how did you even get this Echizen disguise?"

"I can get any disguise!" Niou said, laughing loudly. They were far enough behind though so that Shinku wouldn't hear them unless they were screaming like earlier. "Seriously though," Niou said to Renji, "You need to get rid of that notebook. If Shinku does look back, and she sees you with that notebook in front of your face, she'll know it's you. She's not stupid. She'll think guy plus notebook plus obsessive behavior with notebook equals Renji."

"At least I didn't choose an obvious disguise that will send her running," Renji retorted as he opened his eyes to look at Niou in the eyes. "You're dressed like Sanada, and that will surely make her run off. And anyways, I came because I want more data on Shinku. She may not be a tennis player, but she's pertinent in our lives since she's our fukubuchou's fiancee."

"So, why are you going, buchou?" Kirihara asked.

"I'm curious," Yukimura stated bluntly. "And if I didn't go, then Genichirou wouldn't go, and I know how much he wants to see what his little bride is up to."

"I just want to make sure she's safe and that she's not up to anything suspicious," Sanada said.

"Trust me, she's not doing anything suspicious," Niou muttered so low that no one caught it except for Yukimura, who decided to keep quiet.

They followed Shinku for about another half hour before she disappeared through the side door of a cake house. The sign hanging in front of the store had a huge strawberry cake next to the words "Honey Haruhi's Cake Shop".

"Masaharu," Yagyuu called, "isn't Haruhi your older sister's name?"

"Yeah, it is. Puri~" Niou said with a huge smirk.

"Masaharu, Haruhi. Masaharu, Haruhi," Kirihara repeated, finding the connection of the two names. "Is this the cake shop that your sister opened right after she graduated from her culinary school?"

"Yes. Puri~" Niou's smirk widened.

Everyone turned to look at Niou. He had a Chesire cat grin on his face as he looked every regular in the eyes.

"What is the meaning of this, Niou?" Sanda demanded.

"Oh, nothing." Niou's smirk stayed plastered to his face. "Didn't you guys say you wanted to check out what she's doing? We should go inside then. I'll go in behind you guys since I don't want to scare her off as anything. Sanada-fukubuchou is a pretty creepy person."

A vein popped out on Sanda's face as he glared at Niou. He took a step forward but then changed his mind. He didn't want to get into a fight with Niou, especially not out in public. He would just crush him on the tennis courts instead. The others watched to see if Sanada would blow up on Niou, but Sanada only slowed his breathing and shot one last glare at Niou before heading to the cake shop. He practically yanked the door off of its hinge when he pulled it back, slamming it against the wall. His sunglasses covered his face, and when Shinku turned to look at him, she didn't recognize him at all.

All of the regulars stood there with open mouths as they stared at Shinku. Her long, chocolate brown hair was pulled into a high bun on top of her head, held secure with a pink hair tie with a plastic strawberry connected to it. She wore a very short, puffy dress that was pale pink with tiny strawberries sewn all over the fabric. White lace edged the white peter pan collar around her neck and around her puffed sleeves and hem. A mint green waist apron with white polka dots was tied to her waist.

"Can I help you?" Shinku asked. Her voice was overly sweet, it was like she was forcing sugar down their throats. There was a strained look on her face, and her eyes cast a soft dolly innocence. It was her other look. She only had two looks, her glare and her doll look, and most of the time she chose the glare. Her smile was too wide, and her cheeks were red with embarrassment.

Niou burst into laughter at the sight of her. Shinku glanced around everyone to look at Niou. "Sanada-san?" She asked. Her face turned an even brighter red.

"Guess again, toots," Niou said. He pulled off the Sanada wig and gave a huge smile to Shinku.

Shinku gave him a very heated glare. It was his fault in the first place that she was working at his sister's cake shop. She should have never accepted his favor, but he practically threatened her into doing the job. She eyed the others in the shop and gave them a glare that would wither any plants in sight. "What are all of you doing here?" she hissed.

"Why are you dressed like that?" Kirihara bluntly asked. His mouth still hung open, his jaw almost to the floor as he took her in a second time. "You're . . . cute. You should dress like this more often." A small smile appeared on his lips as he stared at her.

"I AGREE!" Marui shouted as he jumped in front of Shinku. "I also think you should keep working here!" He gave her a hug that she struggled against. He lowered his voice and added, "Also, if you keep working here, you could give me free cake! I love cake!" He licked his lips and wandered over to the cake counter, looking at the whole cakes that the shop sold. He grabbed a menu and sat down at a round table. "The cakes in the display aren't all of the cakes you have right?" Marui asked

Shinku quickly shook her head and focused in on the regulars again. "I said, what are you doing here?" Her teeth gritted together as she spoke to them.

"We wanted to make sure you were okay," Kirihara said. "You looked so tired every day. We didn't know that Niou was forcing you to work to death for his sister."

"Hey!" Niou exclaimed. "I didn't _force_ her. She did this of her own free will. Anyways, she owed me a favor, and this is what I wanted."

"Why ask her to work at your sister's shop?" Renji asked.

"It's December! The holiday season! My sister needed the help, and who better to do it then cute little Shinku?" Niou slyly added, "And I know that Sanada here would love to see you in such a short and cute dress." Niou winked at both Shinku and Sanada. The two stared daggers into him, but Niou just pretended to ignore the sharp looks directed his way and started to walk towards the kitchen where his sister was.

"Leave now," Shinku demanded. "Everyone."

"Oh, why can't we stay?" Marui asked. "I wanted cake!"

"No."

"Please?"

"Get out now."

"Bunta," Yagyuu said, putting his hand on Marui's shoulder, "We should be gentlemen and leave her alone. She is working hard here and we're distracting her."

"We won't be distracting her though if we actually are customers, then she'd have to serve us."

" . . ." Yagyuu didn't feel the need to reply to Marui's obvious answer.

"So how about it guys? Let's do it!"

Niou waltzed out of the kitchen with a grin on his face. "My sister says we can stay here as long as we want and that she'll give us some free food. Puri~" His smile grew wider when he took in the sight of Shinku's angered face. A demonic aura radiated around her that threatened to kill anyone within a five feet radius.

"Akaya! Get away from her!" Renji yelled. "According to my calculations, there's a 200% chance that she's going to attack someone!" Renji grabbed Kirihara's arm and pulled him away before Shinku could deliver a fatal kick to a man's area.

"Get out!" Shinku screamed at them and shoved Jackal out of the door with the silver tray she held. "Out! Out! OUT!" She pushed all of them out and slammed the door behind her. The bell on the door rang erratically as it hit the glass.

"Well, she has a temper," Yukimura stated.

"I'm making a note of it now," Renji muttered while writing in his notebook.

"I'm just glad that she talks so much more now!" Kirihara shouted. "She said like a whole bunch of words to us today! She's starting to talk like a normal person! Woo hoo!"

"This has been a day," Jackal groaned as he picked up his rice farmer hat from the ground. "We should probably return these costumes to the school soon."

"Yeah, definitely," Niou agreed. "I should probably tell you guys, I didn't ask the drama department to borrow these, I just stole them. Puri~"

Everyone stared at Niou for a second before groaning and shoving past him. Niou might once again get them in trouble. They made the long walk back to the school, and quickly returned the costumes without the drama department noticing that they were missing in the first place.

They finally were able to go their separate ways at seven at night, but before Niou could ditch out and leave, Yukimura and Sanada caught him.

"Niou, 50 laps tomorrow for your illegal stunt today," Yukimura sweetly said. A sadistic smile was plastered on his face as he watched Niou groan and kick at the trees. "Oh, and 50 more laps for defiling nature."

Niou threw a malicious glare at Yukimura before stomping away. _I'll show you illegal stunts. _Niou angrily thought. _I'll show you all!_ He was just going to show everyone how dangerous he could be, and that he would never be stopped or caught. He was the number one trickster in the world after all.

oOo

And later that night, Shinku once again came home at nine at night, and crashed at eleven, not even noticing the other sleeping figure on the bed. She was just glad that she only had three weeks left of slaving herself at Niou's sister's shop.

* * *

A/N: Wow! I hope you guys enjoyed this, I feel as if this was a funny chapter. Sorry for the ending guys. Haha, I sort of lost inspiration? Sort of? Haha. It's like the ending threw me in a funk, haha, but hopefully the full chapter actually made up for the lameness :) You guys can ask me any questions about this story or chapter in your review and I would love it if you could review! :) You're all awesome, and continue to look out for this story!

P.S. Niou actually really does have a sister (and a brother), I have no idea what her name is though. But Haruhi is like Masaharu, so . . . I hope that's okay that I chose that name. Haha.


	7. A Terribly Unpleasant Day

******N/A:** Hey guys, sorry for not updating this fic for a long time. If you _haven't_ heard yet, I AM NOW ALIVE AGAIN! I'm going to try to update my fics soon again. And if you _also_ haven't noticed, this is the THIRD fic that I've updated in the past two weeks! WOO HOO FOR UPDATING!

Disclaimer: I do not own PoT in any way . . . unfortunately.

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

**A Terribly Unpleasant Day**

A loud beeping sound was ringing in Shinku's ear as she groaned, reaching across the bed to find her phone to turn off the alarm. Her hand felt something soft; she couldn't figure out what it was. Her eyebrows crinkled even as her eyes were closed. Her frustration obvious on her face as she was wildly searching for her phone. Her arms started thrashing around until she felt something soft again, she grabbed it and opened her eyes to see her hand pulling Sanada's nose.

Sanada was jarred from his sleep when a piercing scream burst his eardrums. He scrambled from the bed and jumped across the room. He looked around the room, expecting to see a burglar or a rapist or kidnapper or something, but no one was in the room except for him and Shinku, and she was glaring daggers at him.

"Bed?" she asked. Her face was completely red, and anger seemed to seep out of her pores. She couldn't even form coherent sentences. Even her ears were red, either from embarrassment or anger, Sanada couldn't tell.

"Bed?" she repeated, this time more seriously as she jabbed her finger at the spot where Sanada had slept the night before.

A sudden light seemed to appear over Sanada's head as he realized she was talking about where he slept that night. A tight look crossed his face as he answered, "It's not fair that you always get the bed, Shinku-san. So last night I was just coming in to rest and I fell asleep on the bed since you've been coming home late."

"Hmph!" Shinku glared at him for a bit more with her arms crossed over her chest before turning her head away. The blush was still on her cheeks as she stumbled out of bed and into the bathroom. The image of Sanada only in his briefs was scarred in her mind forever, and she tried to forget about it as she washed her face. Sanada was usually already out of the house when she woke up because of his morning practices, so she never saw him like that. Her cheeks flared up again as she remembered what he looked like. Even she couldn't deny that Sanada was good looking, with his muscles and everything . . .

Shinku snapped out of her reverie and nearly slapped herself. _Damn you, Grandfather Hikaru!_ Shinku cursed in her head. It was all her grandfather's fault anyways for choosing a penthouse that only had one bedroom.

By the time she got out of the bathroom, Sanada was already gone, and Shinku was very thankful for that.

oOo

Marui panted harshly as he fell to the ground. Sweat was dripping down his face, and his t-shirt was drenched. "I can't take it anymore!" he shouted. "Someone please kill me while I still have feeling in my legs! I'm going to die, I'm going to die a horrible death where no one cares about me. Sanada is going to kill me, and no one is even going to stop him! I hate my life right now!"

"You're not the only one tired!" Niou stated as he fell down next to Marui. They had both been running hundreds of laps since the start of practice. All of the regulars had to.

"Sanada-fukubuchou is in a bad mood, and he's taking it on us. That's not fucking fair!"

"Well then," Niou had a smirk tugging at his lips, "how about you and me do something to get rid of the tension right now? Like pull a prank? Puri~"

"You're fucking crazy aren't you?" Marui asked as he sat back up, raising his eyebrow at Niou. "He's already in a bad mood! You want him to kill us? Really? You're fucking delusional then!"

"Geez, who peed in his cheerios?"

"That's disgusting."

"Whatever, you know what I mean."

Kirihara, and the other regulars excluding the Big Three slowly walked over to where Niou and Marui were sitting.

"I feel dead," Kirihara stated, stretching painfully on the grass.

"I'd rather be dead," Niou said. "I don't want to face Sanada's wrath anymore."

"What is wrong with him?" Jackal questioned.

"Someone peed in his cereal this morning," Marui replied.

"I don't think that's true," Yagyuu joined with a slightly disgusted look on his face.

"Always the gentleman aren't you, Yagyuu," Niou joked. "Relax a bit, and play a prank on Sanada with me."

"I don't think that's a good idea."

"Fine then," Niou huffed. His eyes narrowed slightly before he slowly turned his head towards Kirihara who was lying down with his eyes closed. He crawled slowly over to Kirihara and poked his cheek.

"Hey Kirihara," Niou whispered.

"What, Niou-sempai?" Kirihara asked. He opened his eyes wearily to look at Niou.

"I have an idea that will make Sanada unstressed, then he won't be assigning us so many laps anymore."

"What is it?!" Kirihara jumped up asking.

"We should play a prank on him, Renji, and Yukimura."

"How is that going to de-stress them?" Kirihara questioned.

"Well, it'll be super super fun, and pranks are fun, so we'll have fun, they'll have fun, and they'll be not stressed anymore, _especially_ Sanada-fukubuchou. So how about it?"

"That sounds like the best plan!" Kirhara agreed. "I'll help in any way I can!" He nodded his head vigorously.

"Perfect. Puri~" Niou smiled. Kirihara was so easy to trick, he could get the young boy to do whatever he wanted as long as he lied to him. He loved making Kirihara look like a fool, from the moment he first met the second year when Kirihara first arrived at Rikkai Dai Middle School.

Niou quickly turned away from Kirihara before the others got suspicious. "So guys," he said, "what do you think of our little adventure yesterday?"

"That was super fun!" Marui jumped up. "I can't believe Shinku-chan is working at your sister's cake shop, maybe she'll get me free cake and candy and gum! Apple gum!"

"Dude, my sister's shop doesn't sell gum, she sells cake. Hence the name."

"Do you think I can get free cakes then? With the current training diet that Renji put me on, I haven't had cake in months! I think that I'm going to die from lack of sugar."

"I think you were going to die from too _much _sugar. You were bound to get a seizure or something someday." Niou took off his sweat drenched shirt and wadding it up, chucked it over the fence and onto his tennis bag.

"Did you see that?" he asked, raising his eyebrow and smirking."I could be a basketball player. I'm so awesome at everything."

"I'm sure that the basketball team doesn't have to train like this," Marui groaned before rolling over. "I'm thinking of just sending in my resignation letter now if Sanada-fukubuchou is just going to keep doing this. I'm so exhausted right now I could cry." Marui gave out a fake sob as he rolled around on the grass.

"Stop it, Bunta," Jackal warned, nudging the rolling Marui with his foot. "If Sanada-fukubuchou saw you right now, he'd probably give you more laps."

Marui immediately stopped rolling and laid on his stomach, pouting. "That's not fair. I can't even enjoy myself while I'm dying. I wonder why Sanada's panties are all in a knot anyways."

"I'm more worried about the fact that Sanada apparently wears panties now," Niou chuckled.

"Shut up Niou! What if he hears us?"

"I doubt that."

"I wouldn't," Yagyuu muttered as Yukimura, Yanagi, and (gulp!) Sanada walked over to the rest of the regulars.

"So how is everyone doing?" Yukimura asked cheerfully with a smile on his face.

The regulars on the ground just stared up at him with a look of disbelief.

"Today has been a very productive practice," Yukimura continued, not waiting for their answers. "I can see you all are tired, but don't you feel that great burning feeling that shows that all of your efforts will be rewarded?"

They still continued to stare up at him incredulously.

"I know practice was hard today, but I'm hoping to train like this every day once nationals come. So think of this as a thing to look forward to in the future okay? Everyone is dismissed to go to the showers now. Oh, and Niou, please pick up your sweaty shirt from the tennis courts."

"Got it, _buchou_," Niou replied before heading off.

oOo

Shinku forcefully dragged her feet as she walked to school. She never cared if she was late, and usually she was late to her classes anyways. She wanted to avoid Sanada Genichirou as much as possible. She was starting to not mind him so much, but then . . . her mind wandered back to the image of Sanada only wearing his briefs.

Shinku quickly blinked her eyes several times and shook her head to get the image out. Gah! What was wrong with her? She never cared for looks before in her life, but she couldn't deny that Sanada was good looking. She vaguely wondered if all of the tennis members looked like that.

She gave another huge sigh as she thought of the trouble that would certainly brew between her and Sanada. Oh, _Genichirou_. Her grandfather had phoned her earlier that morning to try and talk her into calling Sanada by his first name. _Genichirou_. She realized that lately Sanada had been calling _her_ by her first name. Was that Grandfather Hikaru's doing too? Did he ask Sanada to be more familiar with her? Shinku remembered that it was just that morning that he had called her "Shinku-san". When did that all start? She couldn't remember.

Her phone let out a little _do-do-do-dodo-dodo_ sound and Shinku took out her phone. She received a message from Choutarou.

Ootori Choutarou: _Hi Shinku-chan :)_

Shinku debated whether or not to text him back. She flipped open the keyboard and started to type a reply since he was so generous those weeks ago.

Miyaharu Shinku: _Hi Choutarou-kun._

Ootori Choutarou: _It's been a while since I've seen you. Can I visit Kanagawa soon?_

Shinku stared at her phone and tucked it away. She would reply later when she knew her answer. She wanted to see him, but at the same time . . . no. Did she really want to be around him? He made her feel guilty and she would be obligated to talk to him, even though he was probably her only friend.

She stuck out her tongue and walked through the school gates. She wondered if she could get away with just being in the library all day. She was especially annoyed because she had to go to the doctor's office that afternoon for her annual checkup.

_This day is one of the crappiest._ Shinku shook her head at the thought once she passed through the main gates of Rikkai. She took a long time changing her shoes and walking to her classroom. She could count on one thing at least, since she was a first year and Sanada was a third year, she wouldn't have to see him at all during school, except maybe during lunch.

As soon as she walked into her classroom, she could scolded by her teacher, but she was past the point of just sending her to the office. Shinku was usually late to class after lunch anyways, so for her to be late in the morning wasn't too much of a difference.

Shinku blocked out the teacher, unintentionally glaring at her from underneath chocolate brown bangs. As soon as the teacher finished lecturing her in front of the class, she sat down. For the rest of the day, she was glued in that seat. Even the teacher was surprised when she saw that for the first time Shinku wasn't late to class after lunch.

oOo

"Whaaaatttt Grandfather Hikaru? I'm in the doctor's office right now." Shinku sat on the cushioned bed-like examining table. The crinkling of the tissue beneath her was grating on her nerves, and it bothered her how she still went to her pediatrician to get check up-ed. It was better than going to . . . . a . . . a gynecologist. Shinku did not look forward to the day when she would be deemed too grown up and actually have to go to a doctor specifically for _women_.

"How's my check up?" Shinku asked, making a face. "I'm not suppose to be talking right now! The doctor is checking the results of my . . . of my . . ," Shinku dropped her voice to a low volume, "urine sample."

On the other end of the line Uncle Hikaru roared with laughter as his granddaughter sat in the room in embarrassment.

"Well, I guess that's good. Is anything wrong?" Grandfather Hikaru asked.

"My vision and sight is just fine," Shinku huffed, a bit peeved at her grandfather for laughing. "I grew a few inches though! I'm now five feet and one inch!" Shinku smiled at her little victory. She had always been small bodied, and an inch over five feet wasn't tall, but it was definitely taller than how she was before!

Shinku heard voices outside of her door, and she quickly said a good bye to her grandfather and sat still.

The doctor came in looking grime as he fidgeted with his clipboard. He avoided her eyes and looked at her feet instead.

He coughed uncomfortably before walking over to the examining table and patting Shinku on the hand. "Miyaharu-san," he started. He coughed again and forced himself to look her in the eyes. "I know that you're only about sixteen, but . . . I have unfortunate news. It was the results of your urine sample."

Shinku seized up, becoming stiff and cold. Could she be really sick? Did she have cancer? Was she schizophrenic?

"What is it?" Shinku gritted, looking at the doctor. The doctor cringed and stepped back, mistaking her regular face for an angry glare. Shinku always only did have two expressions, her unintentional glare and her innocent dolly look which she avoided doing at all costs.

"Well, a-according to the test results . . . you're pregnant."

"What?!" Shinku screamed, jumping off the table and landing in front of the doctor. Her eyes blazed up for real this time as she corned him.

"I'll-I'll let you think about this!" the doctor said and hijacked it out of the room.

Shinku stood in the middle of the floor and slowly counted to ten. What was she going to tell her family? Wait, how could she even be pregnant?

_I haven't done _that_ yet!_ Shinku thought. _There's no way I can be pregnant since I haven't had sex yet. Wait . . . last night . . . _Shinku blushed as she remembered that last night she slept in the same bed with Sanada, but they didn't do it! She would've known. _I was really tired though . . . what if he did something during the night? _

Shinku grabbed at her hair, pacing around the small room from wall to wall. There was no way he did it with her in the middle of the night. You couldn't get pregnant just from _sleeping_ in the same bed, could you?

She walked over to the mirror in front of the sink in the room, glancing herself. She would've known if she was pregnant right? Shinku slapped herself once in the face and said, "Calm down. I have to think of a way to tell my family."

Shinku put her hand on her hip and said to the mirror, "Grandfather Hikaru, you did say you wanted great-grandchildren, so . . . I'm pregnant!"

Shinku shook her head and crossed her arms across her chest. "Whether you guys like it or not, I'm pregnant! No, no, no. That won't work." Shinku bit her lip and glanced up at the mirror again. "I don't know how this happened, but . . . I'm pregnant!"

How was she to tell her super strict fiance, Sanada? Shinku began again, "Sanada-san, Genichirou-san, I know that someday we'll become parents. But . . . but would it be too terrible if we became parents now?" Shinku blushed furiously at the thought and turned away from the mirror, slouching against the counter. She glanced at her phone and flipped it open, going to Sanada's contact and calling him. He was probably still at practice, but she could leave a message.

"Hey Genichirou-san," Shinku started as soon as she heard the beep. "We have to talk about something . . . kind of important. It's not bad!"

Shinku had no idea why she was talking so much. She usually only gave at most five word answers, but she was rambling on the phone! Whenever she did talk it was to give out the truth in as little words as she could. People always thought she was rude and inconsiderate for always speaking the truth and never hiding her opinions, and some thought it was ruder that she barely spoke. Whenever she talked she spoke in short, clipped sentences, but only because she _hated _talking to people. She hated having to interact with people at all!

At that moment while the silence on the phone stretched out, Shinku cursed her terrible social skills. She tried again, "It's just . . . Sanada-san . . . I mean Genichirou-san . . . I'm . . . I'm . . ."

The door to the room flung open and the doctor walked in again, this time with an embarrassed and shamed look on his face. "It was negative!"

Shinku's mouth hung open. She turned her head back towards the phone and quickly said, "Never mind, we don't need to talk. Forget it," and hanging up.

"We redid the tests," the doctor explained, "and we had accidentally confused your test with another woman's test. After we saw that we had tested the wrong one we found yours and tested it and there's nothing!"

Shinku pursed her lips tightly together before shoving her phone into her pocket. "Is that _all_?"

"Sorry for the inconvenience, Miyaharu-san," the doctor apologized sheepishly. "Other than that you're completely healthy and you're all caught up on your vaccines."

Shinku sneered at the doctor before spitting out, "Incompetent man, incompetent doctor." She grabbed her bag and ran out of the room, slamming the door loudly behind her. She left the doctor in the room shocked and nearly in tears.


End file.
